Human Microbiome Project
The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) is an initiative of the US National Institutes of Health with the aim of identifying and characterizing the human microbiome , the microorganisms associated with humans (i.e. their microbial flora).
It was launched in 2008 and is designed as a five-year project with a total budget of $ 115 million. The project aims to clarify the question of how changes in the human microbiome affect health and disease. Diseases whose connection to the microbiome is to be researched include intestinal inflammation, cancer and obesity.
An initial conclusion was drawn in 2012. About 5000 samples from around 240 adults were examined. The gene pool of the human microbiome is estimated at 8 million genes coding for proteins, 360 times more than is present in the human genome (approx. 22,000). Some of the enzymes provided by the microbes are essential for human survival. The number of microbe species in the microbiome is estimated at 10,000 in healthy adults, of which an estimated 81 to 99% are recorded and known by the project. The HMP project was able to present a reference database for the gene pool of the microbiome of healthy adults.
See also
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- ↑ Microbe inventory: The teeming in the body - Spiegel Online
- ↑ NIH Human Microbiome Project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body, NIH, News and Events, June 13, 2012
- ^ The Human Microbiome Project Consortium: Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome, Nature 486, 2012, 207-214
- ^ The Human Microbiome Project Consortium: A framework for human microbiome research, Nature, 486, 2012, 215-221