Katie Guzzetta ’18 first learned about the gut microbiome while she was in middle school, and has been intrigued ever since. The human microbiome consists of the microbial community harbored by each person, composed primarily of bacteria in the gut. Since the term was coined by Joshua Lederberg in 2001, microbiome projects have been launched worldwide in order to better understand the important role these bacteria play in impacting human health and well-being.
During her freshman year, Guzzetta received funding from Hamilton to begin her own microbiome study with lemurs in Madagascar. This summer, however, her research is closer to home, with mice at Hamilton College. “As far as depression goes, I’ve had many friends who’ve been directly affected by the mental illness, which is far too common among college students. Since binge drinking and depression are both prevalent on college campus, and both have links to the bacteria in our guts, the microbiome is naturally a novel and possibly important channel of connecting these,” said Guzzetta.
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