Collecting stool is one of the main data gathering tools for the gut microbiome. For the this study, the portion that studied inflammatory bowel disease relied

Collecting stool is one of the main data gathering tools for the gut microbiome. For the this study, the portion that studied inflammatory bowel disease relied on 1,785 stool samples (self-collected and sent by mail every two weeks) for the temporal period. Now, they did get intestinal biopsies at baseline and took quarterly blood draws so it's not exclusively stool based data. However, recent work from Dr. Mark Pimenthal's lab at Cedars Sinai says something that could shake this data to its core: "The gut microbiome is NOT represented by stool! The longest segment of the gut (20 ft of small bowel) is completely different." They haven't released a paper yet, this was on a poster at a recent seminar, but if true, it could have huge implications for just about all of the gut microbiome research out there today as it uses stool samples as the workhorse for data collection and analysis. This is still a nascent field and one I have experience in myself. I saw first hand while at a biosciences startup how the tests we were using for stool samples of the microbiome were statistically unreliable calling in to question the validity as well. After researching other labs practices at the time, it left me questioning the best practices of the day as well as the worth of the data being collected and reported. Combining what I have seen personally combined with the implications of Dr. Pimenthal's lab's research and I have to wonder if there is any reliable and valid data out there on the gut microbiome yet.