Human Gut Microbiota: Toward an Ecology of Disease

Human Gut Microbiota: Toward an Ecology of Disease

Composed of trillions of individual microbes, the human gut microbiota has adapted to the uniquely diverse environments found in the human intestine. Quickly responding to the variances in the ingested food, the microbiota interacts with the host via reciprocal biochemical signaling to coordinate the exchange of nutrients and proper immune function. Host and microbiota function as a unit which ...

Gut Microbiota: Metagenomics to Study Complex Ecology

The microbial community of the gastrointestinal tract is large and complex, making it difficult to study; the recent development of techniques for metagenomic analysis of gut microbiota should be a boon to the field.

Gut Microbiota and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Gut Microbiota in Disease Diagnostics

Gut microbiota and liver disease.

Microbes are present in large numbers in each human being, in particularly in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and have long been believed to have some beneficial effects for their hosts. Till recently, however, we lacked tools for studying these organisms. Rapid technological advances in recent years have markedly improved our understanding of their role both in health and disease. Recent lite...