The research behind the postbiotics in Biotics: 60 years

A question that followed him throughout his research life

What role do the bacteria we already have in our bodies play? For Midtvedt, it became a question he worked on for decades. In the 1960s he did research at Rikshospitalet in Oslo and at Karolinska Institutet.^{1, 3}

In 1967 he published Tarmfloraens fysiologiske betydning. In a later interview he described the article as important for the direction his research life took.²

Midtvedt gained his doctorate at Karolinska Institutet in 1968. In 1983 he became professor of medical microbial ecology. As professor emeritus from 1999, he carried on with research for the rest of his life.³

Not just which bacteria, but what they do

How do you study the importance of something that is normally already present in the gut?

One method was to study germ-free laboratory animals. Researchers could then add specific bacteria and study what changed. In this way they could explore which functions depended on the microorganisms.³

It is about more than a list of bacteria. It is about the interaction between microorganisms and the body.^{3, 4}

An example from Science

In 1996 Lynn Bry, Per G. Falk, Tore Midtvedt and Jeffrey I. Gordon published a study in Science.⁴

The study showed that a specific gut bacterium could influence the expression of sugar-containing molecules on the surface of the small intestine. It was a concrete example of bacteria not just being present: they can influence biological processes in the host.⁴

What the study tells us: it was basic research, not a study of Biotics or of the postbiotic ingredient in today’s product.⁴

Where do postbiotics come in?

The field also covers preparations in which the microorganisms are no longer alive. In 2021 the scientific organisation ISAPP published a consensus definition of postbiotics.⁵

It describes preparations of inactivated microorganisms and/or their components that provide a documented health benefit. The definition is a scientific framework, not an approval of every product that uses the term.^{5, 6}

The link to Biotics

The postbiotic ingredient GIVE™ in Biotics was developed in collaboration with Midtvedt Innovation AS, based on more than 60 years of Professor Tore Midtvedt’s research into microorganisms.^{1, 7}

In its historical account, Nordics separates Midtvedt’s research career from the documentation of the current ingredient or the finished product. The history gives context, but it doesn’t replace studies of the product.⁸

Documenting an effect of the product requires studies of the specific ingredient, amount and use.⁶