Episode 017 - Professor Harry Flint - why gut microbes matter

Inside Matters

Professor Harry Flint is a world leader in gut microbiome science and Professor Emeritus at the Rowett Institute at the University of Aberdeen. He's known for his book, "Why Gut Microbes Matter" and has two species of gut bacteria named after him: 'HarryFlintia' and 'Flintibacter'.

As part of a research collaboration, Professor Flint helped to identify a combination of six naturally occurring bacteria that work to eradicate a highly contagious form of Clostridium difficile (C. diff). The results of this research illustrated the effectiveness of utilising a mix of bacteria naturally found in the gut to displace C. diff and supershedder microbiota. The research helped develop a standardised mixture treatment for FMT.

Professor Flint began studying ecology at university before switching to genetics, completing his PhD in this field. He then worked as a lecturer for 6 years and then came back to Edinburgh to start a training fellowship to learn molecular biology in 1982. His career began at the Rowett Institute in 1985, with a focus on the rumen of animals due to the complexity of the microbiology of that system of digestion.

He joins James in this episode of Inside Matters, the Gut Health Podcast, to chat about his career as he nears retirement, and the ground-breaking research into the complex universe of the gut microbiome. They cover a variety of topics including the importance of the digestive system of rumens, symbiosis in living organisms and dive into the different levels founds in the gut's microbiome.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:26 How did you get into the field of the microbiome
00:04:07 What was known of the rumen in the 80s
00:08:20 The discovery of key gut bacteria
00:10:07 What's the story with termites?
00:12:23 Does every living thing have symbiosis?
00:14:31 How diverse is the rumen?
00:17:00 Transition into human gut research
00:19:29 In the 90s what was known of the gut biome?
00:22:07 The different levels of the gut microbiome
00:26:19 The importance of starch for the microbiome
00:30:08 What is a keystone species and how many?
00:35:11 What is an enterotype?
00:37:56 What is prevotella?
00:41:12 Should everyone have a fibre supplement?
00:44:58 Does going plant-based improve overall health?
00:47:29 Why are the microbes in our gut in the first place?
00:51:08 The uniqueness of each human's microbiome
00:56:27 10 functional groups found in human stool?
00:59:11 Are there disease states with all functional groups?
01:02:45 Breast-fed babies with less biome diversity?
01:07:39 Important metabolites from the biome
01:11:16 What determines ph balance in the biome?
01:13:29 What still needs to be characterised in the biome?
01:18:51 Do gut bacteria have a form of consciousness?
01:24:23 Will AI help gut biome research advance?
01:28:03 What about fungi in the gut?
01:29:38 What should a healthy microbiome look like?