BOSTON, Mass. (May 28, 2008)—Scientists search for drug
candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn
out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but
they also scour coral reefs and scrape tree bark in the hope of
stumbling upon an unsuspecting molecule that just might turn
into next years big block buster. But one region that scientists
have not been searching is their guts. Literally. Now, a team of
researchers at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Womens
Hospital, and the California Institute of Technology have
demonstrated that a molecule produced by bacteria in the guts
intestinal microflora can eliminate symptoms of inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD), a condition that includes Crohns disease
and ulcerative colitis, in animal models. Given the sheer number
of bacteria in the gut, the potential for discovering new
molecules that can treat a whole range of these diseases is
promising, says Dennis Kasper, co-lead author on the study,
professor of medicine and microbiology and