Honor thy gut symbionts redux.
Exploring our gut microbial communities with new tools is allowing us to revisit old questions; to develop new concepts about our evolution, postnatal development, systems physiology, individuality, and definitions of health; and to further delineate the impact of our changing life-styles. It is also allowing us to envision exciting new ways for addressing global health problems. This area is inherently interdisciplinary, offering a wealth of opportunities to create new fields, partnerships, and educational initiatives. It is captivating to the public and carries substantial expectations. As such, participating scientists need to sponsor proactive, solution-focused discussions of its societal implications.
Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA. jgordon@wustl.edu
Jeffrey I
JI
Gordon
D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005502:Food; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D019936:Probiotics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis; D058616:Synbiotics