Millions of people are exposed to unhealthy levels of arsenic by ingesting arsenic-contaminated foods and drinking water. This project investigates how the microbes living our intestines can help protect us from arsenic. Early experiments have shown that mice treated with antibiotics to disrupt their microbiome are more sensitive to arsenic poisoning than mice with intact gut microbial communities.

We are using germ-free and knockout mouse models, DNA sequencing, and trace-metal analysis to help understand how these beneficial bacteria reduce the harmful effects of arsenic exposure. Ultimately, we hope this research will contribute to a more complete understanding of arsenic toxicity in humans and be used to develop new treatments for people dealing with arsenic-associated disease.

This work is supported by the following awards:

National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, R01CA215784

United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, 2024-67018-42445

Walk Lab Members

• Trenton Wolfe – Microbiome-arsenic-immune interactions; Animal modeling
• Qian Wang – Engineered arsenical biotransformation
• Lu Wang – Methods development for arsenical quantification from tissues