{"id":3087,"date":"2025-06-18T12:09:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T19:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=3087"},"modified":"2025-06-27T12:19:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T19:19:49","slug":"the-life-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/the-life-within\/","title":{"rendered":"Breakthrough Research on the Human Gut Microbiome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Breakthrough Research on the Human Gut Microbiome<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n A molecular biology PhD student helps uncover new insights into the microscopic life that drives human health.\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n June 18, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Molecular biology<\/a> PhD student Nicolaus Jakowec \u201920 is fascinated by microbes. After focusing on virology as an undergraduate, he is now working alongside biological scientist Steven Finkel<\/a> to uncover microbes\u2019 fundamental metabolic processes \u2014 and is already making important breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

What aspect of microbes do you focus on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I study the metabolism and resilience of bacteria \u2014 how they store energy and carbon to survive during periods of stress, including starvation. I\u2019m also trying to understand why they might choose to burn excess calories.<\/p>\n

How does this work relate to the gut microbiome?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s an assumption that microbes in the gut are never starving as long as we\u2019re eating regularly. But in fact, there is a lot of competition between bacteria for nutrients, even in the gut. I\u2019m interested in how cells rewire their pathways in response to these moments of stress. It\u2019s basic science, but understanding these metabolic pathways could have relevance for all sorts of conditions potentially linked to a disrupted gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

What do you find most fascinating about your research?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing to try to recreate an environment like the gut in the lab. We\u2019re asking fundamental questions and drawing on a lot of interdisciplinary methods, tools and technologies to answer them. \u2014T.W.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n How Gut Health Affects Your Mood, Energy and Well-Being\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Discover how the gut-brain connection and trillions of microbes in your digestive system impact mental health, immunity and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n

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\n USC Dornsife Magazine\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Spring \/ Summer 2025<\/h2>\n

The Life Issue<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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A molecular biology PhD student helps uncover new insights into the microscopic life that drives human health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBreakthrough Research on the Human Gut Microbiome<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A molecular biology PhD student helps uncover new insights into the microscopic life that drives human health.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/the-life-within\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breakthrough Research on the Human Gut Microbiome - 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