NNEK21003U Gut Microbiome in Nutrition and Health
MSc Programme in Biology
MSc Programme in Molecular Biomedicine
The course will focus on the role of the human gut microbiome in nutrition and health. The course will include lectures on how food is digested and absorbed throughout the gastrointestinal tract, how diet shapes the gut microbiota composition, functionality and metabolism throughout life, how gut microbes digest our food, how gut microbes and microbial molecules interact with our physiology (e.g. gut barrier function and immune system), and how personalized diets, functional foods and probiotics can target the gut microbiome and thereby modulate host-microbial cross-talk. In addition, the course will contain a workshop on innovation of sustainable microbiome solutions.
Knowledge:
By completing the course, the student will be able to:
- Explain how food is digested and absorbed throughout the gastrointestinal tract
- Describe and explain how diet shapes the gut microbiota composition, functionality and metabolism in infants, adults and elderly
- Describe how food is metabolized by the gut microbiota into small molecules and explain how microbes and molecules are sensed by the human body
- Describe different mechanisms by which the gut microbiome may be linked to disease and health
- Describe formal scientific demands for placing a health claim on foods and regulations for microbiome solutions
Skills:
- Identify gaps in existing knowledge in the field of gut microbiome and nutrition and propose studies for investigating diet-microbiome interactions; hereunder choose relevant scientific methods for evaluating effects of diet/food component intervention on the gut microbiome.
- Ability to see opportunities and discuss challenges for translating existing knowledge into future sustainable and innovative therapeutic and nutritional products that target the gut microbiome and thereby modulate health
- Communicate (orally, in writing and through visual presentation) topics concerning the gut microbiome in nutrition.
Competences:
- Independently retrieve and critically evaluate information from scientific papers concerning the gut microbiome in nutrition
- Critical compare, evaluate and discuss different strategies for modulating the gut microbiome
- Work independently and efficiently together in a team on a joint project focusing on aspects of the gut microbiome and nutrition.
- Pitch and present diet-microbiome-health concepts to professionals.
Course literature will mainly consist of peer-reviewed articles and reviews. See Absalon for a list of course literature.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 37
- Preparation
- 60
- Exercises
- 6
- Project work
- 102
- Exam
- 1
- Total
- 206
Students give feedback to each other on the report during the course
As an exchange, guest and credit student - click here!
Continuing Education - click here!
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Oral examination, 20 minutes
- Type of assessment details
- Description of examination: Assessment of report and oral examination. The report has to be handed in the last Friday before the exam-week. Two weeks before the exam week approximately 10 questions related to curriculum will be uploaded to Absalon. During the examination the student will pick one question, which together with the report (where the students have examined the effects of a given diet/food component on the gut microbiome and health) are discussed during the examination. The evaluation will be based 50% on the discussion of question picked and 50% on the report as well as the discussion of the report.
- Exam registration requirements
Submission of the group report; active participation and oral presentation of the group report in the form of an info-graphic poster, and at an opponent's presentation during the poster session.
- Aid
- Only certain aids allowed
The student's own written group report and notes prepared for the 10 questions are allowed, but no other curricular material.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
Several internal examiners.
- Re-exam
The re-exam will be like the ordinary exam.
If the student has been active at an opponent seminar without submission of a group report, a new individual report must be submitted 3 weeks before re-examination.
If the student has not participated in the opponent's seminar during the course, the student must submit a written feedback to other group reports 3 weeks before re-examination.
Criteria for exam assesment
See Learning Outcome.
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- NNEK21003U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 3
- Schedule
- C
- Course capacity
- No limitation – unless you register in the late-registration period (BSc and MSc) or as a credit or single subject student.
Study board
- Study Board of Food, Human Nutrition and Sports
Contracting departments
- Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports
- Department of Food Science
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinators
- Dennis Sandris Nielsen (dn@food.ku.dk)
- Henrik Munch Roager (hero@nexs.ku.dk)
Main responsible