Brussels, 12/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - A new project co-financed by the European Commission, as part of the 7th framework programme, has officially been given the go-ahead in the health care sector, according to an announcement by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), on Monday 12 January. The “MyNewGut” project analyses the role played by micro-organisms in the intestines and how they help to maintain good health, brain activity and prevent disease. Thirty organisations from 15 countries are participating in the project. Yolanda Sanz, project coordinator explained, “Our challenge is to provide a proof of concept that dietary interventions with food and ingredients designed to modulate the gut microbiota can contribute to controlling and reducing the incidence of diet-related diseases”.
MyNewGut, officially launched in December 2013, is a five-year multidisciplinary project studying the gut microbiota, its genome and their roles in human physiology. Organisations around the world have been working in this field for many years. But, this is the first time an EU-supported initiative has brought together such a unique consortium of world-leading experts from various scientific and industrial disciplines, in order to investigate the microbiome's (all micro populations living at the surface and inside a living organism), influence on human health and disease. (IL)