Gut Microbiota and Mental Health: The connection between gut microbiota and mental health is a topic of ongoing research. Some studies suggest a link between the composition of gut bacteria and conditions like anxiety and depression. However, the mechanisms and the extent of this connection are still not fully understood, leading to debates about the significance of the gut-brain axis.
The final paper in this course will have you demonstrate your ability to find, read, critically interpret, evaluate, and communicate findings from scientific primary research articles and case studies on a controversial topic that relates to microbial contributions to human health. This review essay must be a minimum of 2000 words and you will explain your topic of choice, what the controversy is, and what your stance is on the topic based on your interpretation of the current state of knowledge of that field from multiple references. The audience for this review essay will be someone in the bio-healthcare field who thinks and cares about human health but who isn’t an expert in microbiology. You are expected to have a formal tone for this essay, and write it as if you were submitting it to a scientific journal to be published as a review/opinion piece article.
Some things to address within your review article:
1) How the microbe(s) impact human health either positively, negatively, or both;
2) What is known in the field about how the microbe interacts with humans (on a molecular or mechanistic level);
3) What is the controversy surrounding this topic;
4) What is your opinion based on evaluation of the literature on this topic about the importance of this microbe in human health;
5) What would you recommend for future behaviors/strategies that can be continued or modified to improve human health in the interaction with this microbe.
