PROBIOTIC-HOST INTERACTIONS

Probiotic bacteria are “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit to the host.” Around the globe, probiotic bacteria are exploited in foods and medicine. However, we know relatively little about the mechanisms by which these probiotic bacteria promote health.

One of the long-term goals of the van Pijkeren Laboratory is to understand the molecular underpinnings that drive probiotic function. Using in-house developed genome editing tools, we apply targeted mutagenesis to dissect gene function in both in vitro and in vivo models.

Mechanistic understanding of probiotic function will contribute to rational decision-making to select probiotics in industry and medicine. Also, understanding the mechanism by which select strains modulate the immune system, for example, places us in the unique position to edit food-grade bacteria to enhance their health-promoting properties further.


Recent Posts

  • VPL on Twitter!

    Finally, we took the plunge! The van Pijkeren laboratory is on Twitter. We hope to connect with many colleagues in the field, share interesting articles and tweets, and -of course- share our latest news and …

  • VPL in the news

    The Van Pijkeren Laboratory is featured in several news articles that were recently published. MIT Technology Review published the article Edible CRISPR could replace antibiotics. Around the same time, the article Antibiotic alternatives, delivered by friendly microbes appeared …

  • An exciting year!

    Looking back at 2016, it has been an exciting year, no doubt! For starters, we had our website launched to showcase our work! We are very proud of the final product, and we will continue …

  • Welcome to our new website

      We’re very excited to have a new website! Check it out to meet the members of the van Pijkeren Laboratory, and to learn more about our research. We hope to keep you up to …