Knowledge utilization NWO/KIC Soils2guts project

Human gut health and the gut microbiome play important roles in the pathogenesis of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Modulating the gut microbiome to improve gut health may therefore prevent these NCDs. Food is the primary driver of gut microbiome. Because soil use and the soil microbiome affect the nutritional quality of food - we predict that soil use and gut health are closely interlinked. Decades of intensified agriculture to maintain high yields have relied on high inputs of pesticides and fertilizers. However - this is environmentally unsustainable because it damages soil health. We further hypothesize that these assaults to soil health directly harm our gut microbiome and our gut health - thereby increasing our risk of NCDs. Using a combination of approaches from experimental - ...