Research Collaborations and Partnerships:

MetaBiomics™ LLC has joined with George Mason University Microbiome Analysis Center (MBAC) and the Rush University Medical Center to investigate dysbiosis in the Human Microbiome that resides in the gut, mouth, urogenital, and respiratory systems.   Microbiomic biomarkers, diagnostics technology, and other inventions developed in through the collaborative research will be commercialized by MetaBiomics™ LLC under technology transfer agreement with the participating institutions. 

The MicroBiome Analysis Center (MBAC) at GMU has been focusing on basic research in microbial ecology, polymicrobial diseases, and other molecular ecology applications. They have established the technology for characterizing microbial communities and the bioinformatics support for analyzing the data. The center draws expertise from the departments of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), the department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB), and the Department of Molecular and Microbiology (MMB).  The MBAC facility includes over 5,000 square feet of state of the art DNA research and teaching labs, with generous prep areas, and a 100-seat auditorium equipped for Internet connection and A/V equipment for distance learning classes. A major theme in the wet lab teaching facilities is the close connection between laboratory science and computational methods. All biology labs are wired for Internet connection and some labs are equipped with bench top computers, permitting immediate access to bioinformatics analysis software as part of their laboratory training. The center will expand the support for ongoing projects within the Molecular Ecology and Evolution programs in the Environmental Sciences and Policy department.

One of the major focuses of the MBAC has been research into dysbiosis of the human microbiome is modeling of the homeostatic interactions between the microbiome and human genome.  We define these genomes and interactions as the Metabiome(tm) and this represents a clear example where biological data and bioinformatics tools are brought together in a multidisciplinary field called Systems Biology.

Our collaborative group has been developing technology and studying the gut microbiota in IBD and has begun to characterize the microbiota in HIV. Our research has shown that the human gut is protected by a microbial biofilm and compositional shifts (i.e. dysbiosis) in this biofilm is correlated with IBD. Also, we have observed alterations of the microbiome with various environmental factors such as alcohol consumption.  Our research to date has shown that the gut microbiome composition and function is altered in IBD, alcoholism, and HIV infection and that this dysbiosis is linked to alterations in immune system function.   There is ample scientific evidence that points to the gut microbiome (esp. commensal enteric bacteria) and its products as the luminal factor, which is the antigenic stimulus for the immune reaction in IBD as well as in other diseases.