Examining the healthy human microbiome concept

Human Microbiome Action Consortium; Raphaela Joos; Katy Boucher; Aonghus Lavelle; Manimozhiyan Arumugam; Martin J. Blaser; Marcus J. Claesson; Gerard Clarke; Paul D. Cotter; Luisa De Sordi; Maria G. Dominguez-Bello; Bas E. Dutilh; Stanislav D. Ehrlich; Tarini Shankar Ghosh; Colin Hill; Christophe Junot; Leo Lahti; Trevor D. Lawley; Tine R. Licht; Emmanuelle Maguin; Thulani P. Makhalanyane; Julian R. Marchesi; Jelle Matthijnssens; Jeroen Raes; Jacques Ravel; Anne Salonen; Pauline D. Scanlan; Andrey Shkoporov; Catherine Stanton; Ines Thiele; Igor Tolstoy; Jens Walter; Bo Yang; Natalia Yutin; Alexandra Zhernakova; Hub Zwart; Lisa Derosa; Laurence Zitvogel; Patrick Veiga; Corrado Vecchi; Jonel Trebicka; Debora Serra; Nicola Segata; Robert Schierwagen; Arjun Sarati; Julie Rodriquez; Moez Rhimi; Philippe Ravaud; Pierre Louis Prost; Nicolas Pons; Federica Pinto

doi:10.1038/s41579-024-01107-0

Examining the healthy human microbiome concept

Human Microbiome Action Consortium, Raphaela Joos, Katy Boucher, Aonghus Lavelle, Manimozhiyan Arumugam, Martin J. Blaser, Marcus J. Claesson, Gerard Clarke, Paul D. Cotter, Luisa De Sordi, Maria G. Dominguez-Bello, Bas E. Dutilh, Stanislav D. Ehrlich, Tarini Shankar Ghosh, Colin Hill, Christophe Junot, Leo Lahti, Trevor D. Lawley, Tine R. Licht, Emmanuelle MaguinThulani P. Makhalanyane, Julian R. Marchesi, Jelle Matthijnssens, Jeroen Raes, Jacques Ravel, Anne Salonen, Pauline D. Scanlan, Andrey Shkoporov, Catherine Stanton, Ines Thiele, Igor Tolstoy, Jens Walter, Bo Yang, Natalia Yutin, Alexandra Zhernakova, Hub Zwart, Lisa Derosa, Laurence Zitvogel, Patrick Veiga, Corrado Vecchi, Jonel Trebicka, Debora Serra, Nicola Segata, Robert Schierwagen, Arjun Sarati, Julie Rodriquez, Moez Rhimi, Philippe Ravaud, Pierre Louis Prost, Nicolas Pons, Federica Pinto

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Human microbiomes are essential to health throughout the lifespan and are increasingly recognized and studied for their roles in metabolic, immunological and neurological processes. Although the full complexity of these microbial communities is not fully understood, their clinical and industrial exploitation is well advanced and expanding, needing greater oversight guided by a consensus from the research community. One of the most controversial issues in microbiome research is the definition of a ‘healthy’ human microbiome. This concept is complicated by the microbial variability over different spatial and temporal scales along with the challenge of applying a unified definition to the spectrum of healthy microbiome configurations. In this Perspective, we examine the progress made and the key gaps that remain to be addressed to fully harness the benefits of the human microbiome. We propose a road map to expand our knowledge of the microbiome–health relationship, incorporating epidemiological approaches informed by the unique ecological characteristics of these communities.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Reviews Microbiology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01107-0
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 23 Oct 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Limited 2024.

Funding

The authors thank all those who helped facilitate the Human Microbiome Action (HMA) workshop on 6 October 2022, including workshop attendees, postdoctoral scribes, audiovisual experts and staff of the River Lee Hotel in Cork. This publication has been supported by the project entitled International Human Microbiome Coordination and Support Action (IHMCSA), which receives funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 964590.

Funders	Funder number
P roject entitled International Human Microbiome Coordination and Support Action (IHMCSA) from the European Union	964590

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Human Microbiome Action Consortium, Joos, R., Boucher, K., Lavelle, A., Arumugam, M., Blaser, M. J., Claesson, M. J., Clarke, G., Cotter, P. D., De Sordi, L., Dominguez-Bello, M. G., Dutilh, B. E., Ehrlich, S. D., Ghosh, T. S., Hill, C., Junot, C., Lahti, L., Lawley, T. D., Licht, T. R., ... Pinto, F. (2024). Examining the healthy human microbiome concept. Nature Reviews Microbiology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01107-0

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abstract = "Human microbiomes are essential to health throughout the lifespan and are increasingly recognized and studied for their roles in metabolic, immunological and neurological processes. Although the full complexity of these microbial communities is not fully understood, their clinical and industrial exploitation is well advanced and expanding, needing greater oversight guided by a consensus from the research community. One of the most controversial issues in microbiome research is the definition of a {\textquoteleft}healthy{\textquoteright} human microbiome. This concept is complicated by the microbial variability over different spatial and temporal scales along with the challenge of applying a unified definition to the spectrum of healthy microbiome configurations. In this Perspective, we examine the progress made and the key gaps that remain to be addressed to fully harness the benefits of the human microbiome. We propose a road map to expand our knowledge of the microbiome–health relationship, incorporating epidemiological approaches informed by the unique ecological characteristics of these communities.",

author = "{Human Microbiome Action Consortium} and Raphaela Joos and Katy Boucher and Aonghus Lavelle and Manimozhiyan Arumugam and Blaser, {Martin J.} and Claesson, {Marcus J.} and Gerard Clarke and Cotter, {Paul D.} and {De Sordi}, Luisa and Dominguez-Bello, {Maria G.} and Dutilh, {Bas E.} and Ehrlich, {Stanislav D.} and Ghosh, {Tarini Shankar} and Colin Hill and Christophe Junot and Leo Lahti and Lawley, {Trevor D.} and Licht, {Tine R.} and Emmanuelle Maguin and Makhalanyane, {Thulani P.} and Marchesi, {Julian R.} and Jelle Matthijnssens and Jeroen Raes and Jacques Ravel and Anne Salonen and Scanlan, {Pauline D.} and Andrey Shkoporov and Catherine Stanton and Ines Thiele and Igor Tolstoy and Jens Walter and Bo Yang and Natalia Yutin and Alexandra Zhernakova and Hub Zwart and Lisa Derosa and Laurence Zitvogel and Patrick Veiga and Corrado Vecchi and Jonel Trebicka and Debora Serra and Nicola Segata and Robert Schierwagen and Arjun Sarati and Julie Rodriquez and Moez Rhimi and Philippe Ravaud and Prost, {Pierre Louis} and Nicolas Pons and Federica Pinto",

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Human Microbiome Action Consortium, Joos, R, Boucher, K, Lavelle, A, Arumugam, M, Blaser, MJ, Claesson, MJ, Clarke, G, Cotter, PD, De Sordi, L, Dominguez-Bello, MG, Dutilh, BE, Ehrlich, SD, Ghosh, TS, Hill, C, Junot, C, Lahti, L, Lawley, TD, Licht, TR, Maguin, E, Makhalanyane, TP, Marchesi, JR, Matthijnssens, J, Raes, J, Ravel, J, Salonen, A, Scanlan, PD, Shkoporov, A, Stanton, C, Thiele, I, Tolstoy, I, Walter, J, Yang, B, Yutin, N, Zhernakova, A, Zwart, H, Derosa, L, Zitvogel, L, Veiga, P, Vecchi, C, Trebicka, J, Serra, D, Segata, N, Schierwagen, R, Sarati, A, Rodriquez, J, Rhimi, M, Ravaud, P, Prost, PL, Pons, N & Pinto, F 2024, 'Examining the healthy human microbiome concept', Nature Reviews Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01107-0

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Examining the healthy human microbiome concept

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

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