Microbiota contribute to digestion by producing genes involved in fermentation and the digestion of specific nutrients.

“They are contributing, for instance, to your digestion. Many of the genes that those microbiota make are genes that are involved in fermentation and genes that are involved in digestion of particular types of nutrients. And in a little bit, we will talk about how what you eat can actually change the enzymes that those microbiome components make, enzymes largely being things that are responsible for digestion.”