Date Time Metagenomic Analyses Used to Identify Changes in Gut Microbiome After Spinal Cord Injury Using metagenomic sequencing, researchers have identified changes in populations of bacteria and viruses that occur after spinal cord injuries in mice. The novel metagenomic data sets, presented in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, provide new information on the taxonomy and function of diverse microbes, including viruses. This information may help to better predict how spinal cord injury-induced changes in the microbiome influence systemic and neurological outcomes after traumatic spinal cord injury. “This is the first study that has applied metagenomics to characterize gut dysbiosis after spinal cord injury,” said principal study investigator Phillip Popovich, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Executive Director of the Belford Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Ohio State University (OSU). “A lot of people are interested in understanding the gut microbiome because of its potential impact on a host of comorbidities that affect people with spinal cord injury, including metabolic disease, cardiovascular dysfunction, decreased immune function, fatigue and mental health issues. There is a lot of literature in other fields that implicate the gut microbiome in the onset or progression of these comorbidities.”