03 Oct 2019 --- Cooking food fundamentally changes the microbiomes of both mice and humans, according to an unprecedented study from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Harvard University, US. While several microbiome studies have compared diets with divergent ingredients, the everyday practice of cooking has previously remained understudied. Published in Nature Microbiology, this study reveals the role that environments and eating behaviors can play in optimizing microbial health.