Causes and consequences of gut microbial load for ageing
Supervisors:
Dr Jelle Boonekamp, University of Glasgow
Dr Adam Dobson, University of Glasgow
Dr Colin McClure, Queen’s University Belfast
Summary:
You are what you eat! This is certainly true for the gut microbiome which heavily depends on the food you (shouldn’t) eat, and by extension the environment you are living in. The gut microbiome is paramount to good health. Unfortunately, as we age our microbiomes change and these changes are strongly implicated in chronic inflammation and disease. However, we still know very little about what causes these changes in our guts and why some individuals age much faster than others. A big limitation of previous research is that studies were typically performed in the laboratory using animals which origins are free of microbes. Given the suspected role of the environment in shaping our gut microbiomes, we are in dire need of translational research across laboratory and field settings.
In this project you will study the causes and consequences of variation in gut microbes on ageing, using field crickets both in lab studies, and in our established field system in northern Spain (www.wildcrickets.org). You will first conduct a series of dedicated lab experiments to test the effects of gut microbes on ageing and mortality. Subsequently, you will compare the findings from your lab experiments to the natural cricket population using our field system in Spain, thereby providing novel insight into the role of the natural environment.
You will receive training on theory and methods across several disciplines, from biogerontology to evolutionary and demographic approaches, central to ageing. You will be part of a thriving lab group at the university of Glasgow. You will also gain a wide network of world leading researchers in the field of ageing across the UK and Spain. After the project you will be a skilled and competitive professional with broad career options.