PEP-TALK: on November 28 Hermelijn Smits of the department of Parasitology was giving a lecture on her research study centered around the ‘Old Friends’ Hypothesis as an explanation for the increase in inflammatory diseases, such as childhood allergic asthma. An international research consortium for asthma prevention led by Hermelijn Smits is searching for novel approaches to prevent, potentially eliminate, this lung disease in the world. They are focusing on the exploitation of commensals: ‘beneficial’ micro-organisms that live in and around our body. Her research study goes back to what is probably a major cause of the disease: our modern lifestyle. It is known from research that children who grow up on a farm suffer less from allergies and asthma than children who grow up in the city, being more exposed to a larger group of commensals. A higher diversity and abundancy of commensals in and around our body, will substantially improve the education of our immune system and thus reduce the likelihood to develop disease.
The powerpoint presentation can be found here.
