Potentially 658 species of gut microbes are involved in breaking down bilirubin, a red blood cell waste product, and understanding of this chain of events fully could help prevent certain diseases.
Scientists have finally uncovered an answer to share with the wider community regarding why urine is yellow. For over 150 years, it has remained a mystery why human urine
Researchers from the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Health have released a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Microbiology that discovered how urine gets its yellow color.
Urine gets its yellow hue from a microbial enzyme known as bilirubin reductase, according to a new study. While scientists identified the yellow pigment in urine, urobilin, more than 125 years ago, the enzyme or enzymes that makes urobilin remained a mystery until this study. The findings pave the way for research into the gut microbiome's role in adverse conditions like jaundice and inflammatory bowel disease.