Select Peer-Reviewed Manuscripts


You can find my complete list of publications here.


Recent genetic drift in the co-diversified gut bacterial symbionts of laboratory mice.

Daniel D. Sprockett Brian A. Dillard, Abigail A. Landers, Jon G. Sanders & Andrew H. Moeller (2025) Nat. Commun. 16 (2218).



Home-site advantage for host species–specific gut microbiota.

Daniel D. Sprockett Jeffrey D. Price, Anthony F. Juritsch, Robert J. Schmaltz, Madalena Vaz Ferreira Real, Samantha Goldman, Michael Sheehan, Amanda Ramer-Tait, and Andrew H. Moeller (2023) Sci. Adv. 9 (19).



Widespread extinctions of co-diversified gut bacterial lineages from humans.

Jon G. Sanders, Daniel D. Sprockett Yingying Li, Deus Mjungu, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Jean-Bosco N. Ndjango, Alexander V. Georgiev, John A. Hart, Crickette M. Sanz, David B. Morgan, Martine Peeters, Beatrice H. Hahn, and Andrew H. Moeller (2023) Nat. Microbiol. 8, 1039-1050.



Microbiota Assembly, Structure, and Dynamics Among Tsimane Horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon.

Daniel D. Sprockett, Melanie Martin, Elizabeth K. Costello, Adam Burns, Susan P. Holmes, Michael Gurven, David A. Relman (2020) Nat. Commun. 11, 3772.



Treatment-Specific Composition of Gut Microbiota Is Associated with Disease Remission in a Pediatric Crohn's Disease Cohort.

Daniel Sprockett , Natalie Fischer, Rotem Sigall Boneh, Dan Turner, Jarek Kierkus, Malgorzata Sladek, Johanna Escher, Eytan Wine, Baruch Yerushalmi, Jorge Amil Dias, Ron Shaoul, Michal Kori, Scott Snapper, Susan Holmes, Athos Bousvaros, Arie Levine, David A. Relman (2019) Inflamm. Bowel Dis. 25(12): 1927–1938.



Role of priority effects in the early-life assembly of the gut microbiota.

Daniel D. Sprockett , Tadashi Fukami, and David Relman (2018) Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol.
* Most Viewed Article of 2018!



The effect of microbial colonization on the host proteome varies by gastrointestinal location.

Joshua S. Lichtman, Emily Alsentzer, Mia Jaffe, Daniel Sprockett , Evan Masutani, Elvis Ikwa, Gabriela K. Fragiadakis, David Clifford, Bevan Emma Huang, Justin L. Sonnenburg, Kerwyn Casey Huang, and Joshua E. Elias (2015) ISME J. 10:1170-1181.



Evolutionary Analysis of Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 28 (GH28) Suggests Lineage-Specific Expansions in Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens.

Daniel D. Sprockett , Helen Piontkivska, and Christopher B. Blackwood (2011) Gene. 479(1-2): 29-36.


Scientific Writing for the General Public


From time to time, I've also written about science for a general audience. Check out some of my favorite articles below.


Gut Check!

I wrote a weekly science column for The Festival of Dangerious Ideas, a few of which are now hosted on medium.com (Illustrations by Daniel Gray).


Moral enhancements and your micriobiome

Your stomach bacteria is changing the way you think. Why the saying “thinking with your gut” is more accurate than you probably realize.



The Microbiome Of Built Environments

Microbial life is vastly different indoors than out. Is it time we started designing spaces for microbiology?



Do Probiotics Work?

The word “probiotic” is as general as the word “drug”, so it kind of depends…



Do these (microbial) genes make me look fat?

What germ-free mice can teach us about gut bacteria and weight.



The Daily Kent Stater

I've also written a weekly science column for The Kent State University campus news paper, The Daily Kent Stater. Here are some of my favorite columns, but you can find them all by clicking the link above.


Overcoming the threat of scientific illiteracy

"Americans don’t know much about science, and that is a problem."



Bad science pervades the abortion debate

"Dubbed the “Heartbeat Bill,” H.B. No. 125 would ban abortions as early as 18 days after conception, meaning that a woman’s legal choice to pursue an abortion would effectively be restricted until before the vast majority of women even realize they are pregnant."



Genetically modified crops have a place in sustainable agriculture

"Truth be told, humans have been altering the genetic makeup of food for thousands of years. Our modern molecular tools are quite a bit more advanced than those of our ancestors, but the end result is the same."