Logan Ott, of the Mellata lab in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition,  recently published a first-author paper titled, "Models for Gut-Mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer by Bacterial Plasmid Conjugation".

"This review discusses key studies on the current models for in silico, in vitro, and in vivo modeling of bacterial conjugation, and their ability to reflect the gut of animals. We particularly emphasize the use of computational and in vitro models that may approximate aspects of the gut, as well as animal models that represent in vivo conditions to a greater extent. Directions on future research studies in the field are provided.". - Read full article here

(Ott, L. C., & Mellata, M. (2022). Models for Gut-Mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer by Bacterial Plasmid Conjugation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2371.)

Graham Redweik, also of the Mellata lab, recently published a first-author paper titled, "Exposure to a Virtual Environment Induces Biological and Microbiota Changes in Onset-of-Lay Hens".

"...we found that several biological parameters were influenced by VR treatment in hens, suggesting that VR can be used to improve host resistance to pathogens and gut health in poultry." - Read full article here

(Redweik, G. A., Millman, S. T., Parsons, R. L., Hurtado Terminel, A. N., Radkowski, R., Daniels, K., ... & Mellata, M. (2022). Exposure to a Virtual Environment Induces Biological and Microbiota Changes in Onset-of-Lay Hens. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 69.)