■ Your research shows that gut bacteria influence our metabolism and disease risk. Which of your latest findings surprised you most—or challenges established medical thinking?
“What excites us right now, and also challenges traditional views, is how dynamic and individual the gut microbiota is. Rather than being stable, it behaves like a living ecosystem in constant flux.
“In some of our studies, the abundance of certain bacterial species in the same person has varied by up to a factor of ten thousand within just a few months. Both the composition and the functions of these microbes are strongly shaped by diet, medication, illness, and other factors. The microbiota is therefore not a passive mirror of our lifestyle; it is an active player that can help drive or prevent disease.”
■ You collaborate with clinicians and nutrition scientists. How close are we to using microbiome profiles for personalized diets or treatments?
“We are making good progress, but microbiome data is not yet ready for routine clinical use. First, we need to validate our results in large, long-term studies to see that they hold across different populations. Second, we must develop methods that are robust, reproducible, and affordable for everyday practice.
“When it comes to personalized dietary advice, there are promising advances, but the lasting health benefits still need to be proven. Any new therapy also has to go through clinical trials to confirm safety and efficacy. So there is still work ahead, but we are moving in the right direction.”
■ What do you hope to contribute to EMBO, and what does membership mean for your research?
“Election to EMBO is a great honor and a quality stamp for our work. It gives me access to a network of Europe’s—and the world’s—most prominent life-science researchers, which will broaden my perspectives and methods.
“I hope to contribute insights into how the gut microbiota shapes human metabolism, immunity, and disease, and how mechanistic studies in humans and animal models can unravel the complex dialogue between microbes and their host. I believe this knowledge will also benefit other areas of molecular and cell biology.”
