Michael Fischbach
450 posts
- Today we report that an engineered skin bacterium, swabbed gently on the head of a mouse, can unleash a potent immune response against a distant tumor. @yerinchen led the charge w/ help from @DjenetBousbaine, @VeinbachsA, @BelkaidLab. @ScienceMagazine 1/26
- Today we report that an engineered skin bacterium, swabbed gently on the head of a mouse, can unleash a potent antibody response against a pathogen. Could lead to topical vaccines that are applied in a cream. @DjenetBousbaine led the charge... @Nature 1/55
- Today we report a detailed map of interactions between the immune system and the gut microbiome. @MicrobiomeTcell led the charge w/ help from Aishan Zhao and Kat Atabakhsh. @Nature 1/40 nature.com/articles/s4158…
- Today we report a new model system for the gut microbiome: hCom2, a defined community of 119 strains. @AliceCheng107 led the charge, with major contributions from Po-Yi Ho, @DrChilennial, and @SunitJain. Co-led by my longtime collaborator KC Huang. 1/22
- Today we report that removing a strain from a complex microbiome can ripple through the community in an unpredictable (& useful) way. @MinWang_18 was the mastermind, with help from Mark Brown, Stan Hazen & crew. @CellCellPress 1/25
- Christopher Walsh: 1944-2023 A giant indeed: the impact of his work is staggering. But Chris was even more impressive as a mentor. He was immeasurably devoted to, & loved by, his trainees. Nothing made him happier than doling out his wisdom. Superhuman & human at the same time.
- The bile acid pool, which recirculates between the liver and gut 10x/day, is central to metabolic & immune function. Its composition is heavily influenced by gut bacteria. Excited to share Masa/Tyler's work on the core pathway, w/🙏 to Almo for the collab. nature.com/articles/s4158…
- We spend days choosing a problem and years solving it. But our choice of problem has a huge influence on likelihood of success and impact of our work. @Stanford grad students: Chris Walsh and I unpack this in a new springQ seminar that treats problem choice as a game of strategy.
- This one still blows my mind: Soil smells earthy only because bacteria are trying to hitch a ride on an arthropod. nature.com/articles/s4156…
- We spend days choosing a problem and years solving it. But our choice of problem has a huge influence on likelihood of success and impact of our work. @Stanford grad students: Chris Walsh and I unpack this in a spring qtr class that treats problem choice as a game of strategy.
- Extraordinary fact: The pool of ATP in a human (~75 grams) turns over 1000x/day. So a typical human uses 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of ATP per day. h/t Chris Walsh, from a new book on phosphorus (in press)





