Université de Montréal
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: François-Joseph Lapointe
Jesse Shapiro
Jesse Shapiro, Université de Montréal
Start: 2015-05-01
End: 2016-12-22

Project

Adaptation of the gut microbiome to the Inuit traditional diet
Le microbiome intestinal the complex community of bacteria that populates the human colon, is an evolving unit that diverges across human individuals, populations and over time. The gut microbiome is heavily influenced by many factors such as diet, water source, age, gender and geography. Hence, our lifestyle and our identity are the factors that shape its composition. This bacterial community is actively involved in digestive and metabolic processes in the gut as well as in the reinforcement of our immune system. It has a significant impact on our health, since imbalance of the composition of the gut microbiome is associated with obesity and other disease states. The understanding of its dynamics may help us to better understand its active role and the benefits it provides to our health. Inuit have adapted themselves to extreme polar conditions. The Inuit traditional diet is a unique diet, composed substantially of animal sources of fat and protein. This diet changes with seasons, driven by prey availability. Like Inuit communities, the Inuit gut microbiome is probably adapted to traditional diet consumption. However, the way it adapts to such changes in the diet over the course of a year remains unknown. The goal of my study is to assess the annual variation of those microbial communities in the gut, using second-generation sequencing methods.