An article in the New York Times features recently published research by Alexander Khoruts, MD (Microbiota Therapeutics Program) and Michael J. Sadowsky, PhD (Director, Consortium member the Biotechnology Institute). They are among the scientists trying to understand the mechanisms enabling transplanted fecal matter to fight potentially fatal Clostridium difficile infections. While Khoruts and Sadowsky are currently focusing on the chemistry of the human gut, specifically bile acids, other researchers are looking at microbes known as archaea, and still others are considering the role of bacteria-infecting viruses. Understanding the human microbiome is notoriously complex; as Prof. Khoruts notes, it's "something nature put together over millions and millions of years.” View Prof. Khoruts' recent lecture on the human microbiome here.