Overview

• Researchers from Washington University, the Salk Institute and UC San Diego published the findings on September 9 in Cell.
• The team analyzed 47 fecal samples collected over 11 months from eight Malawian toddlers aged 12–24 months who were at high risk for stunting and acute malnutrition.
• Children with stable microbial genome composition showed better growth, while fluctuating communities correlated with poorer outcomes in this small, observational cohort.
• Long-read metagenomics reconstructed complete microbial pangenomes and captured about 50 times more complete genomes than traditional approaches.
• The project released a public pediatric microbial genome library containing 986 microbes and an optimized workflow suited to remote laboratories with potential applications in surveillance, antibiotic resistance, agriculture and environmental monitoring.