title: Microbiome analysis - from technical advances to biological relevance.
abstract: The development of culture-independent techniques and next-generation sequencing has led to a staggering rise in the number of microbiome studies over the last decade. Although it remains important to identify the taxa of microbes present in a variety of environmental samples, including the gut microbiomes of healthy and diseased individuals, the next stage of microbiome research will need to focus on uncovering the role of the microbiome rather than its mere composition. Here, we introduce techniques that go beyond identifying the taxa present within a sample and examine the biological function of the microbiome or the host-microbiome interaction.
authors.affiliation: Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 600 University Avenue, Room 437, Toronto, ON Canada, M5G 1X5.
authors.forename: Michelle I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 600 University Avenue, Room 437, Toronto, ON Canada, M5G 1X5 ; Institute of Medical Science, Department of Medicine University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada, M5S 1A8.
authors.forename: Williams
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Turpin
authors.affiliation: Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 600 University Avenue, Room 437, Toronto, ON Canada, M5G 1X5.
authors.forename: Andrea D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Tyler
authors.affiliation: Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 600 University Avenue, Room 437, Toronto, ON Canada, M5G 1X5 ; Institute of Medical Science, Department of Medicine University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada, M5S 1A8.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Silverberg
authors.affiliation: Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 600 University Avenue, Room 437, Toronto, ON Canada, M5G 1X5 ; Institute of Medical Science, Department of Medicine University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada, M5S 1A8.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Croitoru