BILL GATES’ PLAN TO END MALNUTRITION.

1 WHAT IS THE PLAN?

According to billionaire Bill Gates, probiotic pills could hold the key to ending malnutrition across the globe within the next two decades. Many view these so called “functional foods” as a gimmick but Gates, who gave the annual Hawking Fellowship Lecture at the Cambridge University Union on Sunday, believes the science that underpins them could save millions of lives. As well as probiotic pills, Gates highlights the use of microbiota-directed complementary foods. “That is going to not only help prevent malnutrition and obesity, but lots of other diseases — like asthma, allergies, and some autoimmune diseases, which may be triggered by an unbalanced microbiome,” he adds.

2 WHAT ARE PROBIOTICS?

Probiotics, or “good” bacteria, are thought to help maintain a healthy gut and are commonly added to foods such as yogurt. “In the future, we’ll be able to create next-generation probiotic pills that contain ideal combinations of bacteria — even ones that are tailored to your specific gut,” says the Microsoft founder turned philanthropist.

3 HOW BIG AN ISSUE IS MALNUTRITION?

Malnutrition remains a much bigger global health threat than often realized as it is no longer always visible. A lack of nutrients in early life is responsible for the mental and physical “stunting” of an estimated 155 million children globally. These children may not appear physically different — some may be overweight — but suffer from irreversible developmental problems. Gates says if he could only work to solve one problem it would be malnutrition. “It’s the greatest health inequity in the world — but thanks to new scientific breakthroughs, I believe we will find a way to solve it within 20 years,” he says.

4 WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

Gates argues that better scientific understanding of the human microbiome — specifically the microorganisms that inhabit the gut — will enable the development of “smartly engineered” probiotic pills to enable us to retain more nutrients from what we eat. According to Gates, 63, research into the human microbiome will provide the “basic insights” to help experts “figure nutrition out” — improving the health of millions in the process. “Over the next 10 to 20 years, we’re going to learn more about each individual microbial species,” he says.