Environments & Health Signature Initiative Webinar - Microbiome

The microbiome is the collection of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and their genes, that naturally live on our bodies and inside us. Although microbes are so small that they require a microscope to see them, they contribute in big ways to human health and wellness. A person’s core microbiome is formed in the first years of life but can change over time in response to different factors including diet, medications, and environmental exposures. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded three projects to consider the interaction between the environment and the microbiome and its impact on human health. In this webinar, learn what this research has discovered and where the investigators plan to go next.

About the Projects

Elucidating the Gene-Environment Interactions that drive Autoimmune Disease among South Asian Canadians - The GEMINI Program

The GEMINI project (Generational differences in Environmental exposures caused by Migration: Impact on Incidence of inflammatory disease) studies a growing concern in South Asian Canadian communities – these communities are experiencing an increase in incidences of chronic inflammatory disease upon exposure to the North American environment.

Programmatic research to understand how modifiable environmental factors interact with the genome in the development of asthma

It isn't clear why some people get asthma and others don't, but it's probably due to a combination of environmental and genetic (inherited) factors. The goal of this research program is to understand these environmental and genetic factors that cause asthma. This new understanding is expected to give us better tools to predict who will get asthma and to develop ways to prevent asthma developing in the first place.

The impact of the gut microbiome and environment on the development of colorectal cancer

This team of international recognized researchers investigates the role of bacteria that reside in the gut in the development of colorectal cancer. The previous and proposed research from this team show that gut bacteria is at the root of colorectal cancer; its manipulation of dietary nutrients such as complex carbohydrates and the subsequent impact on metabolic processes within the gut promotes the development of colorectal cancer in mice and humans that are genetically-predisposed to develop this disease. The research has the capacity to develop diagnostics if a specific bacterial species is identified as the causative agent in colorectal cancer. In addition, the research will lead to the development of preventative protocols for colorectal cancer using alterations in diet or specific antibiotics that displace or out-compete "pathogenic" strains.