New species of methane-producing archaea discovered in the human gut
9 comments
·April 30, 2025vincekerrazzi
rbanffy
I find it shocking and disturbing that we know so little about our own biology we are still discovering such things.
It’s like doctors didn’t have centuries to examine human bodies to learn from them.
PaulHoule
It is not just the human body. Mysterious bacteria that people don't know how to cultivate in isolation are everywhere. Part of the story is that many bacteria don't really live alone but they depend on a plant or an animal or even other bacteria such as one species of large rod bacteria that has a different species of little rod bacteria that live on it, biofilms, etc.
rbanffy
> It is not just the human body.
I know, but I would expect doctors would, by know, not be so frequently surprised by things lurking in their own bodies.
Not that long ago a never before observed structure every human always had was discovered: https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-say-they-...
olau
Biology is so complex that extremely little is known about details. Grab a college textbook on introduction to zoology, and prepare to be blown away.
pfdietz
One disturbing recent discovery is that a strain of E. coli produces a genotoxin, colibactin, that could be the cause of the doubling in colon cancer among those under age 55 in the last 20 years.
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/01/gut-bacteria-may-play...
kayo_20211030
> The discovery of Methanobrevibacter intestini and GRAZ-2 opens up a new chapter in archaea research as well as new perspectives for personalized microbiome medicine in the future.
It advances research, but personalized microbiome research seems a stretch goal. At least, it doesn't sound like it's likely to happen soon.
leephillips
You can blame the dog if you want to. I’m blaming Methanobrevibacter intestini sp. nov. (strain WWM1085).
aaron695
[dead]
I love seeing this kind of thing posted but it’s not surprising in the slightest. We’re forever discovering brew bacteria in our guts that are apparently unique. When I had my gut bacteria tested a full 20% of what I had hadn’t been named yet, and some possibly hadn’t been seen before.