Bacterial gut shot

Enteric bacteria have long been suspected of helping maintain health, but the specific roles of these microbes have been hard to elucidate. Now, two independent American teams have linked the absence of normal gut bacteria with immune system abnormalities that lead to inflammation and allergy.

The findings are in line with the theory behind two new companies-Enterome Bioscience and Vedanta Biosciences Inc.-that aim to diagnose and treat inflammation arising from gut microbe deficiencies...