The “Microbiome Project” is not just a hot trending topic. It is changing the face of medicine. Take a closer look at these developments:
What is the “Human Microbiome Project?” A branch of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), launched a 5 year, $153 million, federally funded research project in 2008. This project was designed to identify and characterize all of the microorganisms that are associated with human health and illness. Scientists tracked 242 people over the span of 2 years and studied the genetic material of microbes recovered from 15 or more sites on each subject’s body.
What does “Microbiome” mean? Microbiome refers to the combination of microbes (bacteria, viruses, parasites, and yeast) with their genomes and environmental interactions in a defined environment. Genome refers to all DNA instructions used to make an organism.
Microbes. Where? What? That’s right. The ones on and inside of you! 100 trillion microbes call us home. Human microbes may outnumber our own cells by as much as 10 to 1. Most are bacteria but there are also protozoa (1 cell organisms with animal-like behavior), archae (1 cell organism with no nucleus), bacteriophages (a virus that replicates within bacteria), parasites, and yeasts. Scientists have discovered more than 10,000 species!
So, what does this all mean? The goal was to understand how these microbes are associated with human health and disease. The results have changed our thinking on the nature of microbes and the important part they play in human life.
View human microbiome infographic.
Source: GoEnergetix.com
