{
  "id": 17331920,
  "title": "Hydrodynamic flow in the gut hinders the fixation of beneficial mutants but accelerates their invasion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/hydrodynamic-flow-in-the-gut-hinders-the-fixation-of-beneficial",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762813v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Gut bacteria experience a spatially structured environment with hydrodynamic flow. Using a branching-process approach, we show that beneficial mutants arising randomly upon division have a reduced fixation probability compared to the well-mixed case. The suppression factor is set by the spatial heterogeneity of mutant fate across the gut. In contrast, the invasion of mutant lineages that avoid…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}