Advances in technology are allowing us to take a closer look into our microbiome—the collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms that live in and on our bodies. Recently, researchers have developed a new method that can help refine microbial community samples for more efficient analysis.

This new method, developed by researchers from the University of California, Davis, uses a combination of “bioinformatics tools, mass spectrometry, and microbial sequencing” to identify and count the different types of bacteria in a sample. This allows for a much more detailed view of the microbial community, as it can distinguish between species that are closely related to one another. The researchers say that this new method could help pave the way for more accurate and precise microbiome studies, which could have a wide range of applications in the medical and scientific fields.

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source: Phys.org