The vast majority of commercial probiotics, including the most well studied and most
popular strains, were isolated and developed in academic labs. Such was the case for
Bifidobacterium adolescentis iVS-1.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska had just begun using a revolutionary
technology called next-generation sequencing to determine how the gut microbiota was
affected by prebiotics. In one of the first prebiotic clinical trials to use this technology,
they discovered that galactooligosaccharides (GOS) enriched for bifidobacteria, but that
each of the 18 participants responded differently.

One individual, in particular, was a super responder, and it was from this individual that
B. adolescentis iVS-1 was isolated. We reasoned that iVS-1 was well-adapted to the
human gut and could out-compete other microbes for resources. From our genomic
analyses, animal studies, and pre-clinical data, we showed that iVS-1 was safe, well-
tolerated, and could be produced commercially.

Next, we showed in our second human clinical trial that iVS-1 was able to reach 10-
times higher abundance than another commercial probiotic and could persist even after
supplementation had ended. Most importantly, iVS-1 significantly improved gut barrier
function, a key immune and gut health benefit.

The B. adolescentis iVS-1 strain was then licensed to Synbiotic Health for
commercialization.