Algae In-da-gut

Millenia of evolution that have honed algae to survive the demanding environments of fast-flowing rivers and acidic lakes have also made them surprisingly well-suited to tolerate somewhere even more unwelcoming: the human gut. A study searching for new approaches to treating inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) that might hold firm against the currents and hostile chemicals of the intestine better than conventional pills has harnessed microalgae’s robustness and stickiness to develop a new drug-delivery system. Spirulina microalgae (left) were coated in nanoparticles containing an anti-inflammatory called myricetin (right), which is usually too unstable to last long in the gut. The coated microalgae attached to finger-like projections in the mouse intestine wall and resisted stomach acid to gradually release the drug where normal capsules fail, while having prebiotic effects themselves that support healthy bacterial growth. The result was improvements in symptoms in the gut, immune system, and even anxiety-like behaviours.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Jiahui Ye and colleagues
• Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, P. R. China
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, August 2025