Fredrik Bäckhed

About Fredrik’s research

The microbes in our intestines outnumber our human cells in the body by an order of magnitude. The microbial genes (microbiome) complement our genome and affect our physiology and metabolism. I have shown that germ-free mice are resistant to developing diet-induced obesity. To study whether the microbial community or its functional capacity (metagenome) is altered in these metabolic diseases we assess the metagenomes of well-phenotyped patients using next-generation sequencing. By rederiving genetically engineered mice as germ-free, we are delineating the molecular mechanisms by which the gut microbiota causes disease.

My main focus now is to delineate the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota modulates host physiology and metabolism and whether the gut microbiota may be a target for preventing or treating metabolic disease.