WORLD MICROBIOME DAY 2021

Here at Yakult Science we are fascinated about all things microbial, and whilst we usually focus on sharing research about the human gut microbiome, this is just a small part of what there is to know about the microbial communities which exist. In fact, there are microbes all around us, in every part of our ecosystem, and researchers continue to investigate these to understand more about them and their importance.   

 Scientific interest in the microbiome has risen exponentially over the past decade and there are now over 90,000 results on PubMed. There is also a huge amount of interest from the general public, with over 17 million results in Google. With so much interest from both researchers and the public it is certainly fitting that our microbial allies have their own annual day – World Microbiome Day. First launched on 27th June 2020, this annual event is a day to celebrate all things microbial. This year the focus is on sustainability.  

Another way microbes can contribute towards sustainability is by converting food waste. For example, using fungal hydrolysis and fermentation with Lactobacillus casei Shirota, Kwan and his research team showed the efficient bioconversion of mixed food waste and bakery waste to lactic acid.²  

To find out more about World Microbiome Day and ways that you can get involved, visit  worldmicrobiomeday.com

 

References

1. https://worldmicrobiomeday.com/about/ 

2. Kwan T et al. (2016) Bioresource Technology, 217: 129-136