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Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
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Public human microbiome data are dominated by highly developed countries.

Richard J Abdill1, Elizabeth M Adamowicz1, Ran Blekhman1,2

  • 1Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.

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Human microbiome research is heavily biased towards North America and Europe. This study analyzed over 444,000 samples, revealing significant underrepresentation from Asia and other global regions, hindering disease research and equitable health benefits.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiome Research
  • Genomics
  • Population Health

Background:

  • Global population representation is crucial in human genomics research.
  • Understanding the global distribution of human microbiome samples is lacking.
  • This knowledge gap hinders understanding of microbiome-associated diseases and equitable health benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the country of origin of human microbiome samples in major genomic repositories.
  • To identify global sampling biases in human microbiome research.
  • To highlight the need for increased global representation in future studies.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed 444,829 human microbiome samples from 3 major genomic data repositories (including SRA).
  • Examined samples from 2,592 studies across 19 body sites.
  • Compared sample origins with global population distribution.

Main Results:

  • Over 71% of samples with known origin are from Europe, the US, and Canada.
  • The US alone accounts for 46.8% of samples, despite representing only 4.3% of the global population.
  • Central and South Asia are highly underrepresented (1.8% of samples for over 25% of the global population).

Conclusions:

  • Human microbiome research exhibits significant geographical bias.
  • Current sampling strategies do not reflect global population diversity.
  • There is a critical need to enhance global representation in human microbiome studies for broader health equity.