Human Microbioma

NIH Human Microbiome Project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body

Genome sequencing creates first reference data for microbes living with healthy adults

June 15, 2012

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This illustration shows the body sites that will be sampled from volunteers for the Human Microbiome Project, part of the National Institutes of Health's Roadmap for Medical Research (credit:: NIH Medical Arts and Printing)

Some 200 members of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Consortium from nearly 80 universities and scientific institutions, organized by the National Institutes of Health, have mapped the normal microbial makeup of healthy humans, producing numerous insights and even a few surprises.

The report on on their five years of research was published Thusday June 14, 2012, in a series of coordinated scientific reports in Nature the PLoS./.../

Ref.: The Human Microbiome Project Consortium, A framework for human microbiome research, Nature, 2012, DOI:10.1038/nature11209 (open access)

Ref.: The Human Microbiome Project Consortium, Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome,Nature, 2012, DOI: 10.1038/nature11234 (open access)