Our gut is home to 100 000 billion microbes that benefit us in many ways. Pioneering work in a new area of research, metagenomics, by Professor Jeffrey Gordon and his students is providing new views of the complex interrelationships between our varied diets, the structure and functions of our gut microbial communities, the nutritional value of the foods we eat, and our nutritional status. This new approach His work has implications for understanding obesity and undernutrition. It will provide another  paradigm to enhance the health of children and adults representing varied cultural traditions. His discoveries have earned him the prestigious Danone International Prize for Nutrition worth 120 000 Euros.

Please click on the links below to find out more about Prof. Gordon´s work:

RESEARCH WORK

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Prof. Gordon and his lab are exploring a mysterious world, teaming with myriad life forms most previously unknown and unnamed. Collectively this universe of micro-organisms is referred to as the gut microbiota and its collection of millions of microbial genes, as the gut microbiome. The goal of researchers is to gain new knowledge about how, beginning at birth, mutually beneficial  relationships are forged between our gut microbes and ourselves and to use this knowledge to promote healthy growth in children, and to identify microbiome-based strategies for diagnosing, treating and ultimately preventing diseases related to poor nutritional status at various stages of life.

We are a Synopsis of Microbial and Human Parts
 “Human beings are supraorganisms, a multispecies compendium of human and microbial cells and genes,” notes Pr Jeffrey Gordon. Our gut microbiome endow us first with a number of genes that vastly exceed the number of genes in our human cells. Second the repertoire of our gut microbial genes endow us with physiological functions that our gut cells had not to evolve: for example the ability to metabolize some carbohydrates our gut cannot digest.

Jeffrey Gordon has revolutionized the way we look at the human gut microbiome and its role in human health. He and members of his lab have conducted pioneering interdisciplinary studies that ‘marry’ new methods in genomics with innovative animal models and studies of humans, including twins. These approaches have allowed them to:
• decipher the genomic and metabolic features that monitor how the main groups of the human gut microbiota share nutrients in the gut. For this, he revisited the use of germ-free mice: he recolonizing them with specific human gut microbes whose genome have been sequenced, and used sequential colonization, adding new microbes in the mouse models.
•   provide new research tools for identifying how the microbiome may be used therapeutically.
•   show how, during the course of mammalian evolution, diet has been the principal factor that has shaped gut microbiome structure and function
•   develop ways to decipher and predict how  the gut microbiota will respond to manipulating dietary components
•   demonstrate that the microbiome can impact energy balance, and how it may contribute to obesity
•   show that gut microbial communities from different individuals can be preserved and then each reliably transplanted to and replicated within germ-free animals; these humanized mice can then be used to define how much of the human donor’s physiological features can be attributed to their gut microbial ‘organ’
•   characterize how gut communities are acquired, emphasizing, thanks to studies of twins, the importance of early environmental exposures;
•   delineate features of the gut microbiome that are shared between individuals and those that vary from one individual to another.
•   devise new approaches for defining the genetic factors that determine the abilities and functions of human gut microbes.

Applications for Human Health
Applications are very large and the implications for global human health are great, especially at a time when the world's population is increasing, as diets are changing as a result of Westernization, and where there is a pressing need to generate more and healthier foods. “If we define malnutrition as the inadequate or excessive consumption of dietary ingredients leading to the development of disease, then we need also to consider the role of the microbiome, not only in terms of the alarming epidemic of obesity that is sweeping the world, but also in terms of the development of various forms of malnutrition. The microbiome should provide new ways for enhancing our ability to provide more informed recommendations about our nutritional needs at various stages of life and in different cultural settings, new ways of defining our nutritional status and the nutritional value of the foods we consume, as well as new microbiome-based approaches for the diagnosis, treatment and ultimately prevention of nutritional disorders in various human populations."

•  Hooper, L.V., Wong, M.H., Thelin, A., Hansson, L., Falk, P.G., and Gordon, J.I. Molecular analysis of commensal host-microbial relationships in the intestine. Science 2001:291: 881-884.
•  Xu, J., Bjursell, M.K., Himrod, J., Deng, S. Carmichael, L.K., Chiang, H.C., Hooper, L.V., and Gordon, J.I.  A genomic view of the human-Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron symbiosis. Science, 2003; 299:2074-2076.
•  Bäckhed, F., Ding, H., Wang, T., Hooper, L.V., Koh, G. Y., Nagy, A., Semenkovich, C.F. Gordon, J. I.   The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004;101:15718-15723.
•  Sonnenburg, J.L., Xu, J., Leip, D.D., Chen, C.H., Westover, B. P., Weatherford, J., Buhler, J.D., Gordon, J.I.  Glycan foraging in vivo by an intestine-adapted bacterial symbiont, Science 2004;307:1955-1959.
•  Ley, R. E., Backhed, F., Turnbaugh, P., Lozupone, C.A., Knight, R.D., and Gordon, J.I. Obesity alters gut microbial ecology, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2005;102:11070-11075.
•  Rawls, J.F., Mahowald, M.A., Ley, R.E., Gordon, J.I. Reciprocal gut microbiota transplants from zebrafish and mice to germ-free recipients reveal host habitat selection. Cell 2006;127:423-33.
•  Ley, R.E., Turnbaugh, P.J., Klein, S., and Gordon, J.I. Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity. Nature 2006;444: 1022-1023.
•  Turnbaugh, P.J., Ley, R.E., Mahowald, M.A., Magrini, V., Mardis, E.R. and Gordon, J.I. An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest. Nature 2006;444:1027-1031.
•  Ley, R.E., Hamady, M., Lozupone, C., Turnbaugh, P.J., Ramey, R.R., Bircher, J.S., Schlegel, M.L., Tucker, T.A., Schrenzel, M.D., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I. Evolution of mammals and their gut microbes. Science 2008;320:1647-1651. PMC26490005
•  Martens, E.C., Chiang, H.C., and Gordon, J.I. Mucosal glycan foraging enhances fitness and transmission of a saccharolytic human gut bacterial symbiont.  Cell Host & Microbe 2008;4:447-457. PMC2605320
•  Turnbaugh, P.J., Hamady, M., Yatsunenko, T., Cantarel, B., Duncan, A., Ley, R.E., Sogin, M.L., Jones, J., Roe, B.A., Affourtit, J.P., Egholm, M., Henrissat, B., Heath, A.C., Knight, R. and Gordon J.I. A core gut microbiome in obese and lean twins. Nature 2009;457:480-484.  PMC2660063
•  Mahowald, M.A., Rey, F.E., Seedorf, H., Turnbaugh, P.J., Fulton, R.S., Wollam, A., Shah, N., Wang, C., Magrini, V., Wilson, R.K., Cantarel, B.L. Coutinho, P.M., Henrissat, B., Crock, L.W., Russell, A., Verberkmoes, N.C., Hettich, R.L., and Gordon, J,I., Characterizing a model human gut microbiota composed of members of its two dominant bacterial phyla. Proc Natl. Acad Sci USA 2009;106:5859-5864. PMC2660063
•   Crawford, P.A., Crowley, J.R., Sambandam, N., Muegge, B., Costello, E., Hamady, M., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I. Regulation of myocardial ketone body metabolism by the gut microbiota during nutrient deprivation.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009 106:11276-81. PMC2700149
•  Goodman, A.L., McNulty, N.P., Zhao, Y., Leip, D., Mitra, R.D., Lozupone, C.A., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I.
Identifying genetic determinants needed to establish a human gut symbiont in its habitat. Cell Host and
Microbe 2009 6:279-289. PMC2895552
•  Turnbaugh, P.J., Ridaura, V., Faith, J.J., Rey, F., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I. The effect of diet on the human
gut microbiome: a metagenomic analysis in humanized gnotobiotic mice, Science Translational Med. 2009
1:  6ra14DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000322 . PMC2894525
•  Turnbaugh, PJ., Quince, C., Faith, J.J., McHardy, A.C., Yatsunenko, T., Niazi, F., Affourtit, J.,
Egholm, M., Henrissat, B., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I. Organismal, genetic, and transcriptional
variation in the deeply-sequenced gut microbiomes of identical twins, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 2010 107: 7503-7508. PMC2867707
•  Reyes, A., Haynes, M., Hanson, N., Angly, F., Heath, A., Rohwer, F., and Gordon, J.I. Viruses in the fecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers.  Nature 2010 466: 334-338 PMC2919852
•  Goodman, A.L., Kallstrom, G., Faith, J.J., Reyes, A., Moore, A., Dantas, G., and Gordon, J.I. Extensive personal human gut microbiota culture collections characterized and manipulated in gnotobiotic mice Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 2011 108: 6252-6257. PMC Journal in Process
•  Muegge, B., Kuczynski, J., Knights, D., Clemente, J.C., Gonzalez, A., Fontana, L., Henrissat, L., Knight, R., and Gordon, J.I., Diet drives convergence in gut microbiome functions across mammalian phylogeny and within humans.  Science 2011 332: 970-974. PMC Journal in Process
•  Faith, J.J., McNulty, N.P., Rey, F.E., and Gordon, J.I. Predicting a human gut microbiota’s response to diet in gnotobiotic mice. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1206025

Name:
Jeffrey (first), I. (middle) GORDON

Office Address:
Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology
Campus Box 8510
4444 Forest Park Blvd., Room 5401
St. Louis, MO  63108

Education:
Oberlin College, AB
University of Chicago, MD
1973-1975 - Intern & Junior Assistant Resident, Medicine, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO
1975-1978 -Research Associate, Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Cancer Institute, NIH
1978-1979 - Senior Assistant Resident, Medicine, Barnes Hospital and Chief Medical Resident, Washington University Medical Service, John Cochran VA Hospital
1979-1981 - Fellow in Medicine (Gastroenterology), Washington University School of Medicine

Personal Statement:
Our lab uses culture-independent metagenomic approaches, gnotobiotic mouse models, and cohorts of twins living in industrialized and developing countries to characterize the genomic and metabolic foundations of mutually beneficial host-microbial relationships in the gut, and how these relationships influence our health and disease predispositions, most notably our nutritional status (includes studies of obese and malnourished adults and children).Licensure and Certification:

Positions and Employment
1973-1975 Intern & Junior Assistant Resident, Medicine, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO
1975-1978 Research Associate, Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Cancer Institute, NIH
1978-1979 Senior Assistant Resident, Medicine, Barnes Hospital; Chief Medical Resident, Washington University Medical Service, John Cochran VA Hospital
1979-1981 Fellow in Medicine (Gastroenterology), Washington University School of Medicine

Academic Positions (all at Washington University):
Asst. Prof. (1981-1984); Assoc. Prof. (1985-1987); Prof. (1987-1990) of Medicine and Biological Chemistry; Prof. and Head, Dept. Molecular Biology & Pharmacology (1991-2004); Director, Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology (2004-present); Prof. of Pathology/Immunology (2008-Present); Chair, Executive Council, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS oversees all graduate education in the biological sciences) (1994-2003).

Honors:
1969   A.B. cum laude; with high honors in Biology
1973   M.D. with honors; Alpha Omega Alpha; Upjohn Achievement Award
1981   John A. and George L. Hartford Foundation Fellowship
1985   Established Investigator, American Heart Association
1989   Member, Association of American Physicians
1990   American Federation for Clinical Research Young Investigator Award
1990   National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Young Scientist Award
1992   American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Distinguished Achievement Award
1992   Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
1994   Marion Merrell Dow Distinguished Prize in Gastrointestinal Physiology
1998   Wellcome Visiting Professor in the Basic Medical Sciences
2001   Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
2001   Member, National Academy of Sciences
2002   Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professorship
2003   Janssen/AGA Award for Sustained Achievement in Digestive Sciences
2003   Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
2004   Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
2005   ASM Lecturer, 105th General Meeting, American Society for Microbiology
2006   MERIT Award, NIDDK, NIH (DK30292; Genomic and Metabolomic Foundations of Human-Microbial Symbiosis in the Gut; second time grant awarded MERIT status; first time in 1993)
2008   Distinguished Service Award, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Chicago
2008   Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
2009   Carl and Gerty Cori Award for Faculty Achievement, Washington University
2010   Chair, Section 42 (Medical Physiology and Metabolism), National Academy of Sciences
2010   NIDDK Distinguished Scientist Award

Teaching Awards: Distinguished Teaching Awards, Washington Univ. School of Medicine (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994); Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, Graduate Student Council; Washington University (2000; first recipient of this annual award); Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award, Washington Univ. (2009). To date, have mentored 50 PhD and MD/PhD students, and 56 post-doctoral fellows.

Examples of Advisory Committees:  Planning Committee on Achieving Research Synergies for Food/Energy/Environment Challenges: A workshop to explore the potential of the “New Biology” 2010; National Research Council committee on “Metagenomics: Challenges and Functional Applications “2005-2007; Science and Technology External Advisory Committee, Pfizer 2003-pres.; Massachusetts General Hospital Scientific Advisory Committee 2003-2006; member then Chair, Burroughs Welcome Fund Advisory Board on “Interfaces Between the Physical & Biomedical Sciences Program” 1996-2002; Member of Council, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases 1999-2002.

Current Editorial Boards: Cell Host and Microbe; Science Translational Medicine

Meetings organized in the past 6 years: Co-chair NAS Sackler Colloquium ‘Tapestry of Life – lateral transfer of heritable elements’ (2005); co-chair NIH Conference on the gastrointestinal microbiota and advances in prebiotics and probiotics research (2007); co-organizer Banbury Conference ‘Living on Human Beings: Metagenomic Approaches and Challenges’ (2007); co-chair NAS Sackler Colloquium ‘Microbes and Health’ (2009)