From: judgebean23x@gmail.com   
      
   10 Ways the Human Microbiome Project Could Change the Future of Science and   
   Medicine   
      
      
   Robbie Gonzalez   
   6/25/12 1:28pm   
   Filed to: DAILY 10   
       
   When astronomers talk about the number of planets in the Milky Way Galaxy,   
   they talk in terms of hundreds of billions. When microbiologists talk about   
   the Human Microbiome — the bacteria, viruses and fungi living in and on each   
   of our bodies — they    
   talk in terms of hundreds of trillions.   
      
   Earlier this month, the Human Microbiome Project published the most extensive   
   investigation on the human microbiome to date. And now, we have the clearest   
   picture ever of the microorganisms that call you home — and this knowledge   
   is likely to affect    
   your life in ways you'd never expect. Here are 10 ways that understanding the   
   organisms inside you could change science and medicine forever.   
      
   10. Your medical records will list your enterotype   
   Much like there are eight different common blood types, researchers announced   
   last year the existence of at least three distinct human "enterotypes", or   
   intestinal bacterial communities. Each enterotype is characterized by the   
   predominance of one of    
   three genera: Bacteroides, Prevotellaor or Ruminococcus. Incredibly, the   
   researchers found no link between enterotype and age, nationality, gender,   
   body weight, or even overall health.   
      
       
   9. But enterotypes are just the beginning   
   Remember: "enterotype" refers solely to the microbiota of the gut, but your   
   microbiome extends throughout and over your entire body. Doctors could   
   therefore consider more than just your enterotype when consulting your medical   
   records; they could    
   reference a much larger picture — one that encapsulates the various   
   ecosystems that support your entire body.   
      
   The phylogenetic tree featured here, for example (borrowed from this   
   outstanding New York Times feature) gives an overview of the microbes found in   
   or on human ears, vaginas, noses, tongues, teeth and cheeks. Your body is a   
   whole wide world universe of    
   microbial life.   
      
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   8. Doctors could use your microbiome to custom tailor medical treatments   
   And yet, every person's microbial universe is different; for example, a   
   bacterium that dominates the ecosystem of one person's mouth can be missing   
   entirely from someone else's. Researchers suspect that the differences in our   
   microbial makeups could    
   allow doctors to custom tailor their diagnoses and treatments. The potential   
   for personalized medicine could be huge.   
      
   7. Treat the microbiome by fortifying its allied forces   
   A person with a bacterial infection in her gut could be said to be in   
   possession of an out-of-balance bacterial ecosystem; somewhere in her   
   intestines, a rebel faction of bacteria is wreaking havoc. One potential form   
   of therapy: manipulate the dynamics    
   of said ecosystem by pitting one (or several) species of virus, bacterium or   
   fungus against another.   
      
   A more intimate understanding of the microbiome will allow us to understand   
   how microbial species interact to maintain a healthy, balanced environment (be   
   it in your mouth, your gut, or on the surface of your skin), and how to fix   
   that balance when    
   things get thrown off kilter.   
      
       
   6. A solution to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance?   
   Antibiotic resistance is becoming a more serious issue by the day, due in no   
   small part to the widespread use of broad spectrum antibiotics, which wipe out   
   our bodies' good bugs and bad bugs indiscriminately.   
      
   With a greater understanding of the microbiome could come microbe-boosting   
   treatments like the ones mentioned above, providing doctors with powerful (and   
   effective) alternatives to antibiotics. In fact, it's already been shown to   
   work in cases of    
   Clostridium difficile infection. (Note that, because the microbiome comprises   
   not just bacteria, but viruses and fungi, these treatments wouldn't   
   necessarily be limited to probiotics.)   
      
   5. An end to the war on germs   
   By treating our microbiomes like ecosystems — equipping it with the   
   resources it needs to sort itself out rather than attacking it, guns blazing   
   — some researchers hope to usher in a new way of thinking about our   
   relationship with bacteria and other    
   microorganisms.   
      
   "I would like to lose the language of warfare," said Julie Segre of the   
   National Human Genome Research Institute in an interview with Carl Zimmer, who   
   has written extensively on the subject of the human microbiome. "It does a   
   disservice to all the    
   bacteria that have co-evolved with us and are maintaining the health of our   
   bodies."   
      
       
   4. Blur the line dividing Humanity from Nature   
   To quote another, different Zimmer article:   
      
   Microbes defy a simple notion of individuality. They are essential to our   
   biology, and they travel with us from birth to death. Yet they also flow   
   between us, and can be found in water, food and soil.   
   In other words, many of the microorganisms that live in and on our bodies can   
   also be found thriving in nature. Because microbes are continuously entering   
   and leaving your body; in many ways, "your" microbiome, while essential to   
   your individual health,    
   extends beyond the confines of your body. The more we understand about the   
   human microbiome, the more we come to realize that everything is, in fact,   
   like, totally connected, man.   
      
   3. Treating one person could affect many   
   Our microbes connect us all. Since these organisms don't stay confined to any   
   one body, any bugs specifically chosen to treat a person's ailment have the   
   potential to affect those in that person's surroundings, as well. (It's not a   
   perfect analogy, but    
   think of how genetically modified crops are susceptible to spreading to non-GM   
   fields via seed-dispersal). Would roving microbes necessarily be a problem?   
   Doctors aren't sure yet — but they have the potential to raise a number of   
   bioethical concerns.   
      
       
   2. Do you own your microbes?   
   For instance, here's a great thought experiment, from the same Zimmer article   
   as above:   
      
      
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