MODEL RELEASED. Artificial gut research. Technic- ian analysing a fermentation mixture from an artificial gut. The gut models the human intestin- es, including its bacteria. He is using high pressure liquid chromatography to separate the mixture's chemical components. These are seen on the screen at right. Some of the gut bacteria may cause or protect against diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and bowel cancer. The model can also be used to judge the success of prebiotics, nutrients that are eaten to aid the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. The artificial gut was built at Reading University, England, by a team led by Professor Glenn Gibson.