There are trillions of microorganisms living in your gut: bacteria, viruses and fungi. They all share the same space and often nutrients, so sometimes they fight for a comfortable spot! Thankfully, most live peacefully in our gut and other digestive organs without causing any problems for us, the host, or each other.

The whole set of microorganisms living in a specific environment is called microbiota, while the collection of their genomes (so their DNA) is called microbiome. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they don't mean the same.

The GutID tests only detect the bacteria living in your gut, which make up more than 90% of the entire microbiota. Even though viruses and fungi can affect the host health, bacteria have the biggest impact.

So, our GutID tests are bacterial microbiome tests that identify all bacterial species and strains present in a stool sample.

No, our microbiome tests and analysis are used to identify which bacteria live in the gut, to assess whether they are in an abnormal abundance (more or less than expected) and to spot potential issues associated with certain bacteria. This test is not intended to diagnose any condition, including IBS.

There are several intestinal but also systemic health issues that can be caused by abnormalities in the quantity and type of gut bacteria, so these tests can help your clinician decide if supporting your gut microbiome will help.

A breath test is required to diagnose Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), so our microbiome test cannot replace it. However, it has been recognized that bacteria causing SIBO are also detectable in stool. (source?) Therefore, the GutID test may provide important clues about whether a SIBO test is necessary or if the test needs to be repeated.

No, our tests are exclusively microbiome-focused, so we don't check for calprotectin, occult blood, metabolites, or other inflammatory biomarkers. Nevertheless, our in-depth microbiome fingerprinting analysis suggests which functions and areas of your gut are strongly impacted by your microbiome. Our summary sections have been conceived to guide you and help you understand which intestinal functions may be out of balance and why.

If your doctor suspects you have some nasty intestinal infections, they might suggest you have a stool test that cultures specific bacteria or looks for parasites. However, several long-term intestinal symptoms are caused by more bacteria than can usually grow (culture) in the lab. Other tests use a molecular technique called qPCR to identify just a few key bacteria in the gut. The GutID test is the only one that can detect any bacteria in your stool, even if they've never been cultured or recognized before!