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Probiotics' potential makes it medicine's next big thing
Probiotics' potential makes it one of medicine's next big growth areas; Gregor Reid
By Peter Kerr for sticK
(sticK - 1 April 2011 ) Quite how probiotics works in humans, and how we can take advantage of increased knowledge of the role of such good bacteria is one of the big growth areas for medicine according to Gregor Reid.
The professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and director of the Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics was recently in New Zealand to pick up a distinguished alumni prize at Massey University.
Much of his research has been around vaginal flora, and understanding how the 'good' lactobacilli crowd out less desirable organisms. Flora Restore is a retail product to provide such probiotics, but Reid himself had nothing to do with commercialisation.
He says probiotic and prebiotic (stimulating the growth of beneficial organisms) research is growing all around the world. Some of its initial impetus was based on the study of long-lived Bulgarians, and the finding that their diets contained many fermented food products.
For sticK – science, technology, innovation & commercialisation KNOWLEDGE - is a new Wellington based news service concentrating on following the money from ideas to income. Contact editor Peter Kerr at peter.kerr055 @ gmail.com
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