Microbiota Of The Human Body

Microbes can now be found in nearly every niche the human body offers. However, the complexity of the microbiota of a given site depends on the particular environmental condition thereof. Only microbes which are able to grow under these conditions, will prevail. Recent publications imply that the microorganisms do not only have multiple, critical consequences for host physiological processes such as postnatal development, immunomodulation and energy supply, but also effects on neurodevelopment, behavior and cognition. Within this book we will focus on the techniques behind these developments, epigenomics and on the various parts of the human body which are inhabited by microorganism such as the mouth, the gut, the skin and the vagina. In addition, chapters are dedicated to the possible manipulations of the microbiota by probiotics, prebiotics and faecal transplantation.

This book is about the microbial species that inhabit the human body, and the consequences of the intimate relationships that we share with them. It is intended that the book will provide an introduction to the normal microflora for those studying disciplines within the health sciences, and for those in the food industry where interest in the microbiology of the digestive tract, especially with respect to lactic acid bacteria, is topical.

The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.

The book brings a completely different perspective than available books by combining the information gained from the human genome with that derived from parallel metagenomic studies, and new results from investigating the effects of these microbes on the host immune system. Although there are a number of books that focus on the human genome that are currently available, there are no books that bring to the forefront the mix of the human genome and the genomes and metagenomes of the microbial species that live within and on us.

A great number of diverse microorganisms inhabit the human body and are collectively referred to as the human microbiome. Until recently, the role of the human microbiome in maintaining human health was not fully appreciated. Today, however, research is beginning to elucidate associations between perturbations in the human microbiome and human disease and the factors that might be responsible for the perturbations. Studies have indicated that the human microbiome could be affected by environmental chemicals or could modulate exposure to environmental chemicals. Environmental Chemicals, the Human Microbiome, and Health Risk presents a research strategy to improve our understanding of the interactions between environmental chemicals and the human microbiome and the implications of those interactions for human health risk. This report identifies barriers to such research and opportunities for collaboration, highlights key aspects of the human microbiome and its relation to health, describes potential interactions between environmental chemicals and the human microbiome, reviews the risk-assessment framework and reasons for incorporating chemicalâ€"microbiome interactions.

The book provides an overview on how the microbiome contributes to human health and disease. The microbiome has also become a burgeoning field of research in medicine, agriculture & environment. The readers will obtain profound knowledge on the connection between intestinal microbiota and immune defense systems, medicine, agriculture & environment. The book may address several researchers, clinicians and scholars working in biomedicine, microbiology and immunology. The application of new technologies has no doubt revolutionized the research initiatives providing new insights into the dynamics of these complex microbial communities and their role in medicine, agriculture & environment shall be more emphasized. Drawing on broad range concepts of disciplines and model systems, this book primarily provides a conceptual framework for understanding these human-microbe, animal-microbe & plant-microbe, interactions while shedding critical light on the scientific challenges that lie ahead. Furthermore this book explains why microbiome research demands a creative and interdisciplinary thinking—the capacity to combine microbiology with human, animal and plant physiology, ecological theory with immunology, and evolutionary perspectives with metabolic science.This book provides an accessible and authoritative guide to the fundamental principles of microbiome science, an exciting and fast-emerging new discipline that is reshaping many aspects of the life sciences. These microbial partners can also drive ecologically important traits, from thermal tolerance to diet in a typical immune system, and have contributed to animal and plant diversification over long evolutionary timescales. Also this book explains why microbiome research presents a more complete picture of the biology of humans and other animals, and how it can deliver novel therapies for human health and new strategies.

The 21st century has witnessed a complete revolution in the understanding and description of bacteria in eco- systems and microbial assemblages, and how they are regulated by complex interactions among microbes, hosts, and environments. The human organism is no longer considered a monolithic assembly of tissues, but is instead a true ecosystem composed of human cells, bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses. As such, humans are not unlike other complex ecosystems containing microbial assemblages observed in the marine and earth environments. They all share a basic functional principle: Chemical communication is the universal language that allows such groups to properly function together. These chemical networks regulate interactions like metabolic exchange, antibiosis and symbiosis, and communication. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Chemical Sciences Roundtable organized a series of four seminars in the autumn of 2016 to explore the current advances, opportunities, and challenges toward unveiling this "chemical dark matter" and its role in the regulation and function of different ecosystems. The first three focused on specific ecosystemsâ€"earth, marine, and humanâ€"and the last on all microbiome systems. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the seminars.

The Human Microbiota offers a comprehensive review of all human-associated microbial niches in a single volume, focusing on what modern tools in molecular microbiology are revealing about human microbiota, and how specific microbial communities can be associated with either beneficial effects or diseases. An excellent resource for microbiologists, physicians, infectious disease specialists, and others in the field, the book describes the latest research findings and evaluates the most innovative research approaches and technologies. Perspectives from pioneers in human microbial ecology are provided throughout.