14 DAY TRIAL // The human body contains bacteria and viruses, in a balance that keeps it healthy, so a team of Canadian researchers are looking at the fragile balance of virus and bacteria within women's bodies, hoping they can learn more about the health of a woman during her lifetime.
The program is led by Dr Deborah Money at the Women's Health Research Institute in Vancouver, and it is called the Vaginal Microbiome Project.
Its mission is to analyze the communities of microorganisms – bacteria and viruses, living in the vagina, so that they can find out what is the healthier bacterial balance for women.
Dr Money says that a healthy balance is the most important thing for preventing infections, protecting against STIs or STDs and avoiding pregnancy loss and preterm birth.
“To date, we have not been able to study this ecosystem adequately because it is difficult or impossible to grow some of the bacteria in the lab, and we currently have poor methods of assessing the population of microbes,” she said.
But today, thanks to genomics, the mystery of the healthy bacterial balance should be solved.
Using the latest technologies, the team led by Dr Money is able to sequence up to hundreds of thousands of bacteria.
Money says that it is very important that, thanks to this approach, “we are not looking at a single bacteria in isolation.
“We are able to look at whole communities and how they interact with each other, which is critical to understanding how a woman keeps healthy, and to identifying when something is going wrong with her reproductive system.”
Dr. Alan Winter, President and CEO of Genome BC, estimates that “this project puts Canadian researchers on the forefront of microbiome research.
“The fact that the research team includes people from all over Canada is a testament to how effective collaboration is in addressing key health issues.”
This research is necessary as preterm rates are increasing in Canada, current rates being at 8%, becoming responsible for 80% of newborn deaths and half of long-term health consequences in infants.
“Studies to prevent preterm birth are of importance not only for Canadian women but for women worldwide where preterm birth has even more serious consequences,” added Money.
This initiative will be lead by Dr. Money at University of British Columbia, based at the Women's Health Research Institute, with her co-leads, Drs. Janet Hill at the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Sean Hemminsgen at the National Research Council, Dr. Gregor Reid at the University of Western Ontario, and Dr. Alan Bocking at the University of Toronto, as well as other collaborators across Canada.
The project is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), through their Canadian Microbiome Initiative - $1,745,341, and Genome BC - $581,781, for a total of $2,327,122 over a period of five years.