title: The human microbiome: at the interface of health and disease.
abstract: Interest in the role of the microbiome in human health has burgeoned over the past decade with the advent of new technologies for interrogating complex microbial communities. The large-scale dynamics of the microbiome can be described by many of the tools and observations used in the study of population ecology. Deciphering the metagenome and its aggregate genetic information can also be used to understand the functional properties of the microbial community. Both the microbiome and metagenome probably have important functions in health and disease; their exploration is a frontier in human genetics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA. Ilseung.Cho@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Ilseung
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Blaser
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000209:etiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D054892:Metagenome; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology