Your new post is loading...
A study released today in Nature Microbiology reveals patterns of a virus that half the people in the world are carrying. The collaboration of 117 scientists across the globe focuses on crAssphage, a virus that feeds on human gut bacteria.
Scientists discovered crAssphage when a DNA sequence repeatedly showed up using a genomics technique called cross-assembly. Researchers have previously known that there are many different viruses in the human gut. However, they have never seen one as widespread as crAssphage.
Since crAssphage is a virus found in the human gut, sampling sewage in wastewater treatment plants is one of the most efficient ways to find diverse crAssphage strains in one geographic region. Using this method, the scientists analyzed more than 32,000 crAssphage sequences distributed across 67 countries in every continent besides Antarctica. The study examined individuals and their crAssphage. The scientists found a child in the U.S. that had 1,409 different strains and an infant in Finland with 748 strains of crAssphage.
The study was published today in Nature Microbiology:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0494-6
