View source for Human microbiome project

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==Overview==
The '''Human microbiome project''' (HMP) is a [[National Institutes of Health]] initiative with the goal of identifying and characterizing the [[microorganisms]] which are found in association with both healthy and [[disease|diseased]] [[humans]]. It is a five-year project, best characterized as a feasibility study, and has a total budget of 115 million dollars. The ultimate goal of this and similar [[NIH]]-sponsored microbiome projects is a demonstration (or refutation) that currently poorly characterized changes in the human microbiome can be associated with human health or disease.

Important components of the Human microbiome project will be culturing-independent methods of microbial [[community ecology|community]] characterization, such as [[metagenomics]] (which provides a broad genetic perspective on a single microbial community), as well as extensive whole-[[genome]] [[DNA sequencing|sequencing]] (which provides a "deep" genetic perspective on certain aspects of a given microbial community, i.e., of individual bacterial species). The latter will serve as reference [[genomics|genomic sequences]] — 600 such sequences of individual bacterial isolates are currently planned — for comparison purposes during subsequent metagenomic analysis. The [[microbiology]] of five body sites will be emphasized: [[oral microbiology|oral]], [[Skin flora|skin]], [[vaginal flora|vagina]], [[gut flora|gut]], and [[nasal cavity|nasal]]/[[lung]].

== Context and importance of HMP ==

Total microbial [[cell (biology)|cells]] found in association with humans may exceed the total number of cells making up the [[human body]] by a factor of ten-to-one. The total number of genes associated with the human microbiome could exceed the total number of human genes by a factor of [[Organism#Superorganism|100-to-one]]. Many of these organisms have ''not'' been successfully [[microbiological culture|cultured]], identified, or otherwise characterized. Organisms expected to be found in the human microbiome, however, may generally be categorized as [[bacteria]] (the majority), members of [[Domain_%28biology%29|domain]] [[Archaea]], [[yeasts]], and [[protozoa|single-celled eukaryotes]] as well as various [[helminth]] [[parasites]] and [[viruses]], the latter including viruses that infect the cellular microbiome organisms (e.g., [[bacteriophages]], the viruses of bacteria).

<blockquote>
"The HMP will address some of the most inspiring, vexing and fundamental scientific questions today. Importantly, it also has the potential to break down the artificial barriers between medical microbiology and environmental microbiology. It is hoped that the HMP will not only identify new ways to determine health and predisposition to diseases but also define the parameters needed to design, implement and monitor strategies for intentionally manipulating the human microbiota, to optimize its performance in the context of an individual's physiology."[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7164/full/nature06244.html]
</blockquote>

The HMP has been described as "a logical conceptual and experimental extension of the [[Human Genome Project]]"[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7164/full/nature06244.html]. In [[2007]] the Human microbiome project was listed on the [http://nihroadmap.nih.gov NIH Roadmap for Medical Research] as one of the New Pathways to Discovery. Organized characterization of the human microbiome is also being done internationally under the auspices of the International Human Microbiome Consortium.

== Related entries ==

* [[Bacterial disease]]
* [[Body odor]]
* [[Environmental microbiology]]
* [[Genome project]]
* [[Genomics]]
* [[Gut flora]]
* [[Human flora]]
* [[Infectious disease]]
* [[List of Archaea genera]]
* [[List of Bacteria genera]]
* [[List of clinically important bacteria]]
* [[List of infectious diseases]]
* [[List of sequenced archaeal genomes]]
* [[List of sequenced prokaryotic genomes]]
* [[List of sequenced eukaryotic genomes]]
* [[List of viruses]]
* [[Medical microbiology]]
* [[Metagenomics]], links to references follow…
**[[Metagenomics#Medical_Sciences_and_biotechnological_applications|…of bodies]]
**[[Metagenomics#Extreme_environments|…of extreme environments]]
**[[Metagenomics#Marine_ecosystems|…of marine ecosystems]]
**[[Metagenomics#Sediments|…of sediments]]
* [[Microbial ecology]]
* [[Microflora]]
* [[Oral microbiology]]
* [[Skin flora]]
* [[Superorganism]]
* [[Vaginal flora]]

== External links ==

*[http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/hmp/ Human microbiome project]
*[http://0-www.nlm.nih.gov.catalog.llu.edu/ep/microbiome.html 2008, Request for applications, Human Microbiome Demonstration Projects (UH2/UH3)] (May 22, 2008 = deadline for submission)
*[http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-090.html 2008, Request for applications, Metagenomic Analyses of the Oral Microbiome (R01)]
*[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7164/full/nature06244.html 2007, Article, "The Human Microbiome Project", as published in Nature]
*[http://biosingularity.wordpress.com/2006/06/04/scientists-publishes-first-human-microbiome-analysis/ 2006, Lay summary of colon microbiome study] ([http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/312/5778/1355 the actual study: Gill et al., 2006])
*[http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/Sequencing/SeqProposals/HGMISeq.pdf 2006 (or 2005), Proposal, Human Gut Microbiome Initiative (HGMI)]


[[Category:Bacteria]]
[[Category:Bacteriology]]
[[Category:Microbiology]]
[[Category:Genome projects]]
[[Category:Environmental microbiology]]



[[it:Progetto microbioma umano]]

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