Holobiome and Radicle Science Launch Largest Gut-Brain Mental Wellness Study

BOSTON and SAN DIEGO, Oct. 08, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Holobiome and Radicle Science have embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to explore the gut-brain axis in mental wellness. The two companies have partnered to launch GUT-FEELINGS, a two-year research project that will enroll over 6,000 diverse Americans in two waves. The study aims to test 19 proprietary food-derived prebiotic formulas against placebo to determine which can improve feelings of anxiety and related mental wellness outcomes, and in which populations.

The scale and design of GUT-FEELINGS set a new standard for interventional research. The study will collect and analyze over 24,000 fecal samples and 12,000 blood samples, alongside participant-reported outcomes such as validated measures of feelings of anxiety, stress, mood, sleep, quality of life, flourishing, weight, and waist measurements, and diet quality. These data will be paired with deep biological and digital data, including ultra-deep fecal microbiome sequencing and metabolomics, blood proteomics, wearable data, facial scans, and continuous glucose monitoring.

The 16-week, 20-arm study will randomize participants experiencing feelings of anxiety to receive one of 19 distinct prebiotic formulations or placebo. The teams will assess a wide range of outcomes, including validated measures of feelings of anxiety alongside stress, mood, sleep, quality of life, flourishing, weight, and waist measurements, and diet quality. These participant-reported outcomes will be paired with deep biological and digital data, spanning ultra-deep fecal microbiome sequencing and metabolomics, blood proteomics, wearable data, facial scans, and continuous glucose monitoring.

Combined, these rich data streams will broadly support Holobiome’s effort to build a foundation model of the human gut microbiome, Mercator. This model will be used to understand how the gut microbiome interfaces with biology relevant for mental wellness and beyond, as well as inform probiotic and prebiotic development. GUT-FEELINGS will conduct rigorous human research prior to product launch and apply a high-throughput, parallel approach to evidence generation. Instead of advancing one intervention at a time through a linear process, the study evaluates 19 interventions in parallel across two waves to uncover which ones work, and for whom.

The collaboration is only possible through the combination of two cutting-edge, complementary platforms and datasets. Holobiome’s microbiome discovery platform is built around its Microbiome Vault, the world’s most diverse collection of human gut bacteria, its high-throughput human gut-simulator, and a proprietary database mapping more than 120,000 human metagenomes to specific health states. Radicle Science brings its patented Reflexive Trials platform, nationwide community of citizen-scientists, vertically integrated research operations, and proprietary clinical dataset from Radicle’s food and wellness trials on nearly 100,000 Americans (the world’s largest such dataset).

GUT-FEELINGS is part of ARPA-H’s Evidence-Based Validation & Innovation for Rapid Therapeutics in Behavioral Health initiative, which is focused on finding objective measures of mental health and well-being. The study will provide a scalable framework that Holobiome can apply time and time again. The implications extend well beyond this study. GUT-FEELINGS will also demonstrate how it is now possible to combine large-scale citizen science, convenient decentralized participation, AI agents, gold standard interventional trial design, and at-home biological sampling and digital measurement. The result is a novel, rapid, repeatable model for generating rigorous evidence on non-pharmaceutical health interventions across large, diverse populations, without the business model constraints or budgets of pharmaceutical drug development.

The study is expected to yield initial results in the second half of 2027. The findings from GUT-FEELINGS will be used to build the evidence needed to understand how improved health outcomes can translate into economic value for individuals, employers, and health systems.