[Fundamentals of the microbiome]

Area of Science:

• Clinical microbiology
• Human microbiome research
• Metagenomics

Background:

• Historically, clinical microbiology relied on bacterial cultures for pathogen detection.
• Understanding the human-microorganism relationship has progressed slowly.
• The advent of culture-independent analysis revolutionized microbiome cataloging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore compositional changes in the human microbiome concerning diseases.
• To facilitate comparative studies between healthy and diseased individuals, as exemplified by the Human Microbiome Project and MetaHIT.
• To create extensive libraries detailing temporal and spatial variations in microbiota composition during human diseases.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing culture-independent analysis techniques for comprehensive microbiome cataloging.
• Conducting comparative studies on the human microbiome in health and disease states.
• Developing extensive data libraries on microbiota composition over time and across locations.

Main Results:

• Significant advancements in cataloging the human microbiome composition.
• Identification of numerous changes in microbiota composition linked to various diseases.
• Establishment of extensive libraries detailing microbiota dynamics in human diseases.

Conclusions:

• While mathematical correlations between microbiome changes and diseases are identified, their biological and medical significance requires further investigation.
• Future research must focus on functional experiments to validate generated hypotheses.
• The ultimate goal is to ascertain the true clinical impact and practical applicability of microbiome research findings.