Understudied gut fungus may help repair radiation-damaged DNA and limit intestinal injury

The gut microbiome has been a popular topic for a while now, but the focus is usually on good bacteria. A new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that we may want to pay attention to the fungi in our guts as well. The study examined the effects of radiation on mice, comparing mice inoculated with a filamentous fungus called Mucor racemosus with a control group, and found that M. racemosus facilitated processes that protected the mice from radiation damage.

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