The Human Microbiome Project: A Community Resource for the Healthy Human Microbiome
The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) [1],[2] is a concept that was long in the making. After the Human Genome Project, interest grew in sequencing the "other genome" of microbes carried in and on the human body [3],[4]. Microbial ecologists, realizing that >99% of environmental microbes c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science,
2013-02-27T19:32:46Z.
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| Online Access: | Get fulltext |
| Summary: | The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) [1],[2] is a concept that was long in the making. After the Human Genome Project, interest grew in sequencing the "other genome" of microbes carried in and on the human body [3],[4]. Microbial ecologists, realizing that >99% of environmental microbes could not be easily cultured, developed approaches to study microorganisms in situ [5], primarily by sequencing the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S) as a phylogenetic and taxonomic marker to identify members of microbial communities [6]. The need to develop corresponding new methods for culture-independent studies [7],[8] in turn precipitated a sea change in the study of microbes and human health, inspiring the new term "metagenomics" [9] both to describe a technological approach-sequencing and analysis of the genes from whole communities rather than from individual genomes-and to emphasize that microbes function within communities rather than as individual species. This shift from a focus on individual organisms to microbial interactions [10] culminated in a National Academy of Science report [11], which outlined challenges and promises for metagenomics as a way of understanding the foundational role of microbial communities both in the environment and in human health. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant U54HG004969) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant U54HG004973) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant U54AI084844) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant U01HG004866) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant R01HG005969) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant R01HG004872) United States. Army Research Office (grant W911NF-11-1-0473) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF DBI-1053486) Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Early Career Scientist) |
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