Jeffrey Ivan Gordon

Microorganisms are his world: Jeffrey Ivan Gordon (born in 1947) is director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University in St. Louis.

The physician and molecular biologist is a pioneer of interdisciplinary studies of the human microbiome, particularly the microorganisms of the intestine. Together with his team, he established that the intestinal flora in overweight people differs from that of normal-weight people – in both humans and mice. The microbes of obese people were better able to derive energy from food. The researchers also found that normal-weight mice stored more fat once the bacterial culture of overweight mice had been transferred to them. In obese humans, the ratio of bacteroidetes to firmicutes in particular was shifted in favour of firmicutes. Firmicute bacteria are particularly good at extracting calories from food – an evolutionary advantage in times of need when a small piece of bread had to last a long time.

But today, this vital advantage is a disadvantage: people with many firmicutes bacteria derive more energy from their meals than others and therefore also accumulate fat more quickly. Gordon’s team also found that dieting increased the relative proportion of bacteroidetes. These bacterial strains metabolize food less thoroughly. Gordon concluded from this that obesity had a bacterial component – he even speaks of an obesity epidemic. Gordon was regarded as a favourite for the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 2015. He is receiving the 2021 Balzan Prize «for establishing the field of human microbiome research and revolutionizing our understanding of its roles in health and disease, including in our nutritional status.»

What award-winning researchers pass on to young, upcoming researchers

Interview by Astrid Tomczak-Plewka with Jeffrey Gordon

Jeffrey Gordon, you have been awarded for your work on the microbiome in the human intestine. How would you explain this research to a child?

When we think about ourselves, we think about the human side of our existence, our human genes, our human selves. But it’s much more complicated than that. We live in a world dominated by microbes. And when we are born, a process of colonization of our bodies begins. And these microbes are not our enemies, they are friends with abilities that we would not otherwise develop, with hundreds of genes. We’re trying to find out how these genes interact with our human cells, and in the place where the largest collection of these microbes is located. And that’s the intestine – at an early stage of human development. It’s fascinating to observe the influence the microbiome has on children’s growth.

How do you go about that?

We compare healthy children with malnourished children to find out whether the developmental process of the microbiome is in some way disrupted in the latter – and yes, it is disrupted. Then we want to know whether that is the consequence or the cause of malnutrition – and again it turns out to be the cause. And ultimately, it’s a matter of “repairing” this community of microbes again. This “repair programme” can be achieved with certain nutrients. These insights could help to treat malnourished children around the world, in a way that is culturally accepted, fundable and scalable.

What does the Balzan Prize mean to you?

My field of research is as old as microbiology itself, but it has undergone a revolution in the last 20 years. Researching and understanding human biology from a microbiological perspective holds the promise that we will be able to understand health and disease better. With this award, the Balzan Foundation underscores that the journey we are undertaking with our research is important and impactful. Secondly, it underlines a collective effort. There’s an African proverb about this: if you would like to travel fast, you must travel alone. If you would like to travel a long way, you must travel with others. The journey I have described today is a journey made by incredibly innovative, aware and creative individuals who are climbing a high mountain together.

What would you like to pass on to young people who also want to embark on such a journey?

The legacy that a laboratory can leave behind is to have created an environment of friendliness and generosity, an awareness of shared experiences, where people are not afraid to say when they don’t understand something, but learn together. This makes for innovation and is the foundation of interdisciplinary research. I’m very happy that our lab has been, and still is, a home for many people, where they have shared their lives with each other. Ultimately, it’s about nurturing a spirit of humility and hope, so as to make the world a better place.