Centenarians have an unusual gut microbiota that protects the body from infections. The discovery was made by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
Virus-killing bacteriophages have previously been shown to affect the cognitive abilities of mice. Until this moment, it was not possible to study their effect on people due to the lack of technology, emphasizes the publication Nature Microbiology.
Scientists in their new work analyzed the genomes of 195 people from Sardinia and Japan. Deep learning algorithms helped extract and compare the viral DNA of 18-year-olds, 60-year-olds, and centenarians over 100 years old.
The microbiota of the oldest participants in the experiment was more diverse than all the others. A quarter of the viruses residing in the gut maintained key steps in sulfate metabolism. According to the researchers, this process helps keep pathogens out of the body. Lenta.ru .
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