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They will investigate how Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferers could be helped with new cellulose-based food supplements by analysing images of carbohydrates fermenting in the gut, at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Research Centre at the University of Nottingham.

Vital data for the laboratory modelling will be carried out by the Quadram Institute laboratory in Norwich. This will allow assessment of the  underlying biochemical and microbiological mechanisms. The study will take about 40 months.

One of the lead researchers, Professor Robin Spiller, said: “Some IBS symptoms can be caused by carbohydrates which are incompletely absorbed. Instead, they pass into the colon where they are fermented  giving off gas which can cause pain and bloating. To avoid this, patients are sometimes put on a restrictive, complex diet which may mean they miss out foods important for their longer term health.

“The colon is a really difficult organ to study, and Nottingham’s expertise in medical imaging as well as the laboratory modelling in Norwich means we can watch what happens to food as it’s digested. That will help design food supplements which will enable IBS patients to eat a healthier, less restricting diet.”

Lead researchers at Nottingham include Professors Spiller, Lucia Marciani and Penny Gowland, and Dr Maura Corsetti, Dr Colin Crooks and Dr Caroline Hoad from the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre; Dr Gleb Yakubov from Food Sciences, University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington Campus and Dr Fred Warren and Dr Hannah Harris from the Quadram Institute in Norwich.

The Medical Research Council is at the forefront of scientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in 1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers’ money in some of the best medical research in the world across every area of health. Thirty-three MRC-funded researchers have won Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRC scientists have been behind such diverse discoveries as vitamins, the structure of DNA and the link between smoking and cancer, as well as achievements such as pioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, the invention of MRI scanning, and the development of a group of antibodies used in the making of some of the most successful drugs ever developed. Today, MRC-funded scientists tackle some of the greatest health problems facing humanity in the 21st century, from the rising tide of chronic diseases associated with ageing to the threats posed by rapidly mutating micro-organisms.