This was the first paper which coined and defined the terms "prebiotic" and "synbiotic" in the context of modulating the gut microflora to improve health. This built upon the use of probiotics which had been around for some time previously. We suggested that prebiotics could be added to more foods than probiotics and that their survival in the gut was not in question. Also, synbiotics were suggested to be a way in which probiotics could be made to persist in the gut ecosystem.

The paper was a review so it was a case trying to bring several studies together and making some conclusions. The studies cited had to be convincing enough to develop these new nutritional concepts in a feasible manner.

Because (hopefully) prebiotics and synbiotics have relevance for several disciplines such as microbiology, gastroenterology, food science, etc., we wanted a journal that had a wide readership that covered diverse areas of interest. We therefore chose the Journal of Nutrition. We also thought that a journal published in America would be well cited.

Make more comment on the extended functions that prebiotics and synbiotics may have. Describe the type of food vehicles that they can be added to more fully. Discuss manufacturing technologies and determinations of prebiotic effects. Describe, or at least speculate, on mechanisms of effect. Define the health outcomes.

The gut microflora are extremely active and respond heavily to diet. If this goes wrong it can lead to acute (e.g. gastroenteritis) and/or chronic disorder (e.g. bowel cancer, IBD, IBS). These have major economic and clinical relevance. The increased use of prebiotics in the diet is known to stimulate indigenous groups of gut bacteria seen as beneficial. This opens up a straightforward preventative approach for managing several debilitating diseases. The possibility also exists that gut flora components (or their products) can act to influence systemic problems like coronary heart disease, autism, food allergy. Ongoing research may therefore define and test ways in which these situations can be more effectively handled through targeting gut bacteria and their activities.

  What are the implications of your work for the future of your field or neighboring fields?

New food product developments, but these need to be tested using up to date methodologies and well-controlled trials that are hypothesis-driven. If successful there would be relevance for several diet and health issues, but it is important that scientific rigor is not lost, or credibility issues may sour the field.

Currently the area is attracting very good funding from the European Union through the Pro-EU-Health cluster (www.vtt.fi/virtual/proeuhealth/). This consists of 64 research partners in 16 different European countries and has a combined budget of 17 million euros. The aim is to independently research the pro-, pre- and synbiotic concepts. There are also important projects being funded by industry which will propel the area forward.

A further recent development has been the formation of International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP: www.fp.rdg.ac.uk/isapp/) which is a key multidisciplinary scientific society in the field. ISAPP was formed in 2002 and is an association of academic and industrial scientists working on fundamental and applied aspects of probiotics and prebiotics.

My co-author (Marcel Roberfroid) and I had no idea that prebiotics and synbiotics would be as widely used terms as they are now, being quoted in some research papers, conferences, and the like. They won't mean much to most people but for us "parochial" scientists I suppose it has caught on in some (sad!) quarters.

On a personal side, as a scientist who made a REAL blunder of his first scientific examinations (United Kingdom "A" levels in 1979) it was nice to see that other opportunities could arise to persist in an area I was always interested in (microbiology). In fact, life gets simpler as I found my subsequent exams (i.e. HND, B.Sc., Ph.D.) progressively easier—I suppose it is because the focus narrows? Ironically, to become a Professor I didn't have to do anything; someone very important just writes to you! If budding scientists do have a set-back then I hope they won't be put off; we are a small enough club as it is!!