Gut Viruses Alone Can Predict Aging... Yonsei University Builds World’s Largest Gut Virome Map [Reading Science]

109,000 Laboratory Mouse Gut Viral Genomes Secured... Published in "Nature Communications"

Gut Viruses Suggest New Biomarker Potential for Diagnosing Aging, Obesity, and Cancer

A study has found that it is possible to predict an individual’s degree of aging using only information about gut viruses. By constructing the world’s largest catalog of gut viral genomes in laboratory mice, a Korean research team has suggested that gut viruses could become a new biomarker for precision medicine in the future.

Yonsei University announced on July 27 that the research team led by Professor In Seok Lee from the College of Life Science has established the world’s largest catalog of gut viral genomes in laboratory mice and confirmed that aging in individuals can be predicted with high accuracy based solely on gut viral information. The findings were published in the international journal Nature Communications.

Summary of Research Importance and Key Findings. Provided by the Research Team

Until now, microbiome research has mainly focused on gut bacteria. However, recent studies have revealed that there are as many viruses as bacteria in the gut and that most of these viruses are bacteriophages, which infect bacteria. Bacteriophages are drawing attention for their role in regulating the growth and function of gut bacteria, which may in turn influence immune diseases, metabolic disorders, and aging.

The research team analyzed 2,638 metagenomic datasets from both domestic and international sources, constructing the Mouse Reference Gut Virome (MRGV), the largest catalog to date of laboratory mouse gut viral genomes, comprising 109,778 gut viral genomes and 28,824 viral species. This expands viral species diversity by approximately 68% compared to existing databases.

Research team photo. Lee Inseok, Professor of Biotechnology at Yonsei University (left), and Kim Hanjun, PhD candidate (first author). Courtesy of Yonsei University

Utilizing this catalog, the team analyzed the relationships between gut viruses and bacteria, and succeeded in predicting the age of mice with high accuracy using only viral information. Notably, most of the viruses that contributed most significantly to age prediction were newly discovered and could not be detected with existing techniques. The team explained that these results demonstrate the potential for gut viruses to serve as a new biomarker reflecting the physiological state of the host.

This study is expected to lay the foundation for the early diagnosis or treatment of not only aging but also various diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer using gut viruses. In line with this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States recently launched the Human Virome Program, marking the beginning of a national-level effort to advance human virus research.

Professor In Seok Lee stated, “We have also completed the construction of the world’s largest catalogs of human gut and oral viral genomes and are preparing to make the announcement. Once the human gut virome map is released, microbiome research will progress to a new stage, encompassing not only bacteria but also viruses.”

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