From extracellular vesicles to biotics in space, flatulence-tracking, and ingestible capsules, the 19th International Scientific Conference on Probiotics, Prebiotics, Gut Microbiota and Health (IPC) delivered on presenting the latest scientific data and discoveries from the global biotics arena.

The three-day event took place in Kraków, Poland, last month (June 22-24) and was hosted for the first time under William Reed organization. The conference presented an unseen data-packed agenda with a line-up of formidable academics and industry experts, covering topics, from spaceflight and smart tech, to gut-organ axes and animal health.

Besides the top-quality content, pulled together by a formidable scientific committee, the event brought the opportunity to network with colleagues from across the globe, with a Gala Dinner hosted on day two.

“I have seen IPC grow to one of the best conferences on pro-, prebiotics and gut microbiota in Europe under the inspiring leadership of Alojz Bomba, Norbert Bomba and Martin Haranta and their team,” said Koen Venema, Founder and CEO at Beneficial Microbes Consultancy who acted as chair of this year’s event.

Opening the program, Filipe Cabreiro, Professor at the Imperial College London, unveiled “the cost of hosting a microbiome with age”.

Reminding delegates that having a microbiota is both a cost and a benefit, he described how the cost starts to outweigh the benefit with age.

“It is known that human gut microbiome changes with age. Whether it is about correlation or causation remains to be further explored,” said Peter Kurti, business strategist and principal advisor to the IPC organizing committee, recalling the presentation as a key highlight. “Extremely interesting research was presented showing that germ-free animals live longer than animals with natural gut microbiome. This poses the question whether fewer microbes could mean longer lives, and whether the gut microbiome can be engineered in a way that leads to prolonged life.”

Discussing a model of accelerated aging, Christian Roghi, co-founder of the thinktank Microbiome Futures, noted research into the role of the microbiome during spaceflight could uncover essential innovations to support astronauts in their mission to Mars, as well as multiple under-served populations on earth.

With NASA aiming to send astronauts to the red planet from as early as 2030, Roghi said a lot of work is still needed to find a solution to the biological challenge of a 24-month space mission.

“We need the whole sector, especially the microbiome sector, to work together to answer some very difficult questions and change our mindset,” he told delegates.

Presentations devoted to the exploration of extracellular vesicles (EVs)—lipid-bound particles naturally released by cells into the extracellular space—were a key highlight for Arthur Ouwehand, President of the Scientific Committee.

Talks were provided by leading experts, including Gaspar Perez Martinez, from the Spanish National Research Council, Eric Guedon, Group Leader at French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), and Laurent Pineau, R&D scientist at Lesaffre.

Delegates were informed EVs transport proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids between cells, serving as vital intercellular communication vehicles and holding major promise for disease diagnostics and therapeutics.

“At first glance, EV appear to be interesting and promising new nutraceutical tools but several questions remain before commercialization,” Kurti said, “such as how they behave in food, how they are absorbed, how they should be labelled, and how they would be regulated.”

Academics discussed the new technologies enabling mess-free at-home gut health testing to become a reality.

Taking the room by surprise, Brantley Hall, CEO and co-founder of tech startup Ventoscity, presented new flatulence-tracking technology which can be clipped to underwear for discreet on-the-go analysis of hydrogen expulsion.

“This is an unmeasured dimension of human physiology that we are taking from subjective to objective,” he told the room of scientists. “By measuring flatulence, this is going to enable us to differentiate between products that work, versus those that don’t.”

Also presenting new tech, Aniek Even, principal scientist at OnePlanet Research Center, Netherlands, unveiled the center’s new GISMO ingestible sensor capsule.

Capable of collecting samples from the upper GI (a previous blindspot in human gut microbiome research), the capsule provides a tracked analysis of pH, temperature and redox balance, from mouth through to excretion.

“The technology takes readings every 20 seconds along its journey, allowing a profile of parameters along the gut,” she told delegates.

Attendees heard from Austrian health-tech startup NB1 Health on how it aims to deliver a ‘truly personalized’ full daily supplement routine through blood and gut microbiome data.

Marijn Lewis, scientific representative for NB1, told delegates the service uses microbiome sequencing and blood collection to provide a full daily ritual with pro- and prebiotics, botanicals, vitamins and minerals.

They plan to provide a service to the academic community too, she added: “We will be able to contribute to the scientific community by answering questions such as which probiotic combinations are the best tolerated, which produce the most favorable microbiome shifts, and which generate the best symptom shifts, with real-world evidence.”

Scientific Committee members Professor Svetoslav Todorov, Dr. Yosep Ji, and Research Leader Gwénaël Jan also highlighted several emerging themes from IPC 2026, including the use of bacteriocins in combating antimicrobial resistance, the importance of functional strain screening in identifying strains with genuine functional relevance, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in immune modulation. Together, these discussions reflected the field's continued evolution from traditional probiotics towards increasingly targeted and personalised microbiome-based interventions.

With the 20th instalment set to take place once again in Krakow, on 22-24 June 2027, the Scientific Committee will look to further strengthen the conference’s position as the world’s leading scientific conference in the microbiome and biotics space.

Stay tuned for IPC 2027: https://probiotic-conference.net