Los Angeles Times | "Researchers find a link between gut bacteria and genes in colitis flare-ups"

Dr. Jonathan Jacobs, professor in the UCLA Fielding School's Department of Epidemiology, was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times about research into colitis that suggests a common genetic variant may interact with gut bacteria to trigger chronic inflammation in ulcerative colitis.

“This study is helpful in demonstrating a specific example — a genetic variant and a microbial signal — that leads to inflammation,” said Jacobs, a gastroenterologist and microbiome researcher at UCLA who was not involved with the study. “That’s exciting,” he said, because it offers a clear mechanism that ties together many of the risk factors scientists have long observed in inflammatory bowel disease.

Even if it turns out not many people are vulnerable to this particular gut-genetic interaction, he said, the research could lead to more personalized treatment. “It moves us closer to precision medicine,” Jacobs said.

Read the Los Angeles Times article.