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Gut Microbiome Metabolite Cross-Feeding

Interactive 3D syntrophy simulator: watch fiber-fermenting bacteria hand off lactate and acetate to butyrate-producing cross-feeders in the gut lumen, and see how the resulting short-chain fatty acids set luminal pH and feed the colon wall.

Molecular Biology3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Gut bacteria rarely digest fiber alone — they run a syntrophic relay. This simulator models the two-step cross-feeding chain in the gut lumen: primary fermenters break fiber down into lactate and acetate, and a separate population of cross-feeders converts those intermediates into butyrate, the short-chain fatty acid the colon wall depends on most. Four Monod-kinetics controls — fiber supply, primary fermenter growth, cross-feeder efficiency, and epithelial absorption — drive a live 3D reactor where population sizes, metabolite flow, and the resulting luminal pH all respond in real time.

⚙ Under the hood

A 3D syntrophy simulator showing how primary fiber-fermenting gut bacteria hand off lactate and acetate to cross-feeding bacteria that convert them into butyrate, driving luminal pH and colon-wall SCFA supply.

gut microbiomecross-feedingshort-chain fatty acidssyntrophyMonod kineticsmicrobial ecology

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install