The gut microbiome in health and in disease

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Recent technological advancements and expanded efforts have led to a tremendous growth in the collective knowledge of the human microbiome. This review will highlight some of the important recent findings in this area of research. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies have described the structure and functional capacity of the bacterial microbiome in the healthy state and in a variety of disease states. Downstream analyses of the functional interactions between the host and its microbiome are starting to provide mechanistic insights into these interactions. These data are anticipated to lead to new opportunities for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of a variety of human diseases. SUMMARY: There is a…