On September 20th, the Human Microbiome Project released its second-wave of data [10].
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The human microbiome refers to the genomes of all of the microorganisms, like eukaryotes (organisms with cells containing a nucleus), viruses, and bacteria, that live inside all of us [11]. Don’t freak out! Recent studies suggest that for every one of your trillions of cells, there’s a corresponding bacterial cell inside of you [12]. The Human Microbiome Project aims to identify these microbiota, i.e. microorganisms that reside within and interact with the human body, and determine how they affect human health.
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The second-wave of data includes 1,631 new metagenomes [10]. A metagenome is just the combined genomes of all of the microbiota sampled. You can explore the updated dataset by visiting the following link: https://aws.amazon.com/datasets/human-microb iome-project/
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What are the clinical and pharmaceutical applications that can result from an advanced understanding of the human microbiome?
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National Institutes of Health. (2017, September 22). The Dish | Expanded Beta Phase. https://allofus.nih.gov/news-events-and-media/videos/dis h-expanded-beta-phase National Institutes of Health. (2017, September 22). About the All of Us Research Program. https://allofus.nih.gov/about/about-all-us-research-progra m National Institutes of Health. (2017, September 22). Program FAQ. https://allofus.nih.gov/about/program-faq University of Oxford, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM). (2017, September 22). Virtual reality tool developed to untangle genes. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-virtual-reality-tool-untangl e-genes.html University of Oxford, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM). (2017, July 5). Researchers use virtual reality to unpack causes of common diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-07-virtual-reality-c ommon-diseases.html University of London, Goldsmiths. (n.d.). History. http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/csynth/wp/history/ Save the Redwoods League. (2017, September 25). Redwood Genome Project. https://www.savetheredwoods.org/project/redwood-gen ome-project/ Mission and History. (n.d.). https://www.savetheredwoods.org/about-us/mission-hist ory/ Tamiru, M., Natsume, S., Takagi, H., White, B., Yaegashi, H., Shimizu, M., ... & Urasaki, N. (2017). Genome sequencing of the staple food crop white Guinea yam enables the development of a molecular marker for sex determination. BMC biology, 15(1), 86. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0419-x Lloyd-Price, J., Mahurkar, A., Rahnavard, G., Crabtree, J., Orvis, J., Hall, B. A., ... & McDonald, D. (2017). Strains, functions and dynamics in the expanded Human Microbiome Project. Nature, 550(7674), 92-95. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature23889 Ursell, L. K., Metcalf, J. L., Parfrey, L. W., & Knight, R. (2012). Defining the human microbiome. Nutrition reviews, 70 (suppl_1), S38-S44. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426293/ Abbott, A. (2016). Scientists bust myth that our bodies have more bacteria than human cells. Nature News, 8. https://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-o ur-bodies-have-more-bacteria-than-human-cells-1.19136