A Breath of Air Could Help Diagnose Gut Microbiome Disruptions

Volatile organic compounds in the breath reflect gut microbiome changes, offering a quick and non-invasive way to detect biomarkers of diseases like asthma in children.

Originally written by Stephanie DeMarco, PhD, for The Nutshell section of The Scientist, on January 22, 2026


In the depths of the human colon, gut microbes help keep the body healthy by aiding digestion and producing vital metabolites. Disruptions to this bustling microbial community are associated with diseases including asthma and serious infections in preterm infants. However, quickly identifying the gut microbiome changes that can lead to these conditions in a hospital is not feasible with current methods.

“One of the key barriers to integrating our knowledge of the microbiome into clinical care is the time it takes to analyze the data on the microbiome,” said Ariel Hernandez-Leyva, an MD/PhD student in gut microbiome researcher Andrew Kau’s group at Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine), in a statement.

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