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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Gut microbes ‘eat’ nanoparticles — leading to microbiome changes

Humans can accidentally ingest nanomaterials in consumer products, with unknown effects.
Carbon nanotubes in POM matrix, SEM.

Consumption of carbon nanotubes (example pictured; artificially coloured) by mice boosted certain levels of micro-organisms in the animals’ guts. Credit: Stefan Diller/SPL

Bacteria in the digestive tract can break down ingested carbon nanomaterials, according to new research in mice1. The research also hints that the excessive amounts of fatty acids formed by this breakdown could inhibit the normal function of the animals’ intestinal stem cells.

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Nature 617, 441 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01540-w

References

  1. Cui, X. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2218739120 (2023).

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