Without a bug’s life: Germ-free rodents to interrogate microbiota-gut-neuroimmune interactions

The human body harbors trillions of commensal microbes which play a crucial role in host development of the immune system, gastrointestinal tract, and brain. An alteration in the composition or function of these microbes has been implicated in numerous neurological, neuropsychological, and gastrointestinal diseases. The germ-free rodent model, devoid of all microbes, has been increasingly used to uncover the microbial underpinnings of these...