The Human Gut Microbiome
25 April 2024 publication
Human microbiome research is an exciting and dynamic field that has the potential to benefit many areas of our society and the economy. Microbiome research has progressed rapidly since the development of new genomic technologies and investment in large-scale, collaborative projects such as The Human Microbiome Project, a ten-year research initiative launched in 2007 which set out to characterise the human microbiome and its role in health and disease. Evidence from this project, alongside more recent studies, suggests that the findings from microbiome research can be used to improve human health.
Significantly more basic research is needed to establish whether the gut microbiome plays a causative role in human health, and to understand how this role varies in relation to different diseases. It will therefore be crucial to manage public expectations and continually assess the safety of commercial products as the field progresses. Nevertheless, gut microbiome research remains a fast-paced and exciting field with promising future applications and many opportunities for crosssector collaboration across academia, industry and public health. As such, further investment into gut microbiome research has a huge potential for stimulating innovation and may lead to the development of novel approaches to treating health and disease.
Image credit: iStock/ChrisChrisW
