Commentary Implications of the Human Microbiome Project for Epidemiology

The structure and function of microorganisms that live in and on us, the human microbiota, are a tremendous resource. Microbiota may help to explain individual variability in health outcomes and be a source of new bio-markers for environmental exposures and of novel prognostic and diagnostic indicators. The increase in avail-ability of low-cost, high-throughput techniques makes it relatively straightforward to include microbiota assessments in epidemiologic studies. With the recent joint publications of the findings of the Human Micro-biome Consortium and related studies, the consequent surge of interest in microbiome research, and remarkable media attention, the time is ripe for epidemiologists to contribute their expertise to and translate results of micro-biota research for population health. Human Microbiome Project; microbiome; microbiot