Gut Microbiome: The Cornerstone of Life and Health

Abstract

After the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003, scientists realize that decoding human genome is not enough to understand human biology because there are tremendous microorganisms living in and on the human body throughout the full life cycle, and they are critically affecting human life. Currently, the Human Microbiome Project, conceived as a "second human genome project," has become the research spotlight of the scientific community of the whole world The human microbiome, known as the "forgotten organ," has been elevated to an unprecedented importance in a wide array of host processes such as growth, development, physiology, immunity, nutrition, and diseases in the last decade. Trillions of microorganisms such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, parasites, and fungi symbiotically inhabit inside and outside the mammal body. That is why humans are regarded as "superorganisms." The in-depth exploration of human microbiome by fast renovation of sequencing technologies, complemented by analysis of transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes, and immunomes, and by mechanistic experiments in model systems, has dramatically reshaped our understanding of the correlations between human health and microbiomes.