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The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.

Gnotobiotics summarizes and analyzes the research conducted on the use of gnotobiotes, providing detailed information regarding actual facility operation and derivation of gnotobiotic animals. In response to the development of new tools for microbiota and microbiome analysis, the increasing recognition of the various roles of microbiota in health and disease, and the consequent expanding demand for gnotobiotic animals for microbiota/microbiome related research, this volume collates the research of this expanding field into one definitive resource. Reviews and defines gnotobiotic animal species Analyzes microbiota in numerous contexts Presents detailed coverage of the protocols and operation of a gnotobiotic facility

Bringing together expert researchers in the fields of microbiome, metabolism, and nutrition research, this book compiles the current state of knowledge from authorities specifically on how diet regulates microbial function with metabolic implications for the human host. Chapters cover the broad concepts of microbial-host interactions under the dietary influences of specific macronutrients, micronutrients, small molecule generation and bile acid circulation, with inclusion of later clinical chapters encompassing topics like bariatric surgery and our current understanding of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics. Covering a timely topic from a functional standpoint, the book fills a gap in the existing literature. While increased attention is placed on descriptive work, it will importantly highlight emerging functional and mechanistic research findings that illustrate the inner workings of the dietary-microbial-host orchestration of metabolic regulation. Providing an exciting summary of the importance of current microbial function, it will also summarize the next major directions in the field of microbiome research.

Microoganisms are distributed across every ecosystem, and microbial transformations are fundamental to the operation of the biosphere. Microbial ecology is the study of this interaction between microorganisms and their environment, and arguably represents one of the most important areas of biological research. Yet for many years our study of microbial flora was severely limited: the primary method of culturing microorganisms on media allowed us to study only between 0.1 and 10% of the total microbial flora in any given environment. Molecular Microbial Ecology gives a comprehensive guide to the recent revolution in the study of microorganisms in the environment. Details are given on molecular methods for isolating some of the previously uncultured and numerically dominant microbial groups. PCR-based approaches to studying prokaryotic systematics are described, including ribosomal RNA analysis and stable isotope probing. Later chapters cover DNA hybridisation techniques (including fluorescent in situ hybridisation), as well as genomic and metagenomic approaches to microbial ecology. Gathering together some of the world’s leading experts, this book provides an invaluable introduction to the modern theory and molecular methods used in studying microbial ecology.

“In Missing Microbes, Martin Blaser sounds [an] alarm. He patiently and thoroughly builds a compelling case that the threat of antibiotic overuse goes far beyond resistant infections.”—Nature Renowned microbiologist Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the equilibrium and health of our bodies. Now this invisible Eden is under assault from our overreliance on medical advances including antibiotics and caesarian sections, threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes and leading to severe health consequences. Taking us into the lab to recount his groundbreaking studies, Blaser not only provides elegant support for his theory, he guides us to what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future. “Missing Microbes is science writing at its very best—crisply argued and beautifully written, with stunning insights about the human microbiome and workable solutions to an urgent global crisis.”—David M. Oshinsky, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Polio: An American Story

A great number of diverse microorganisms inhabit the human body and are collectively referred to as the human microbiome. Until recently, the role of the human microbiome in maintaining human health was not fully appreciated. Today, however, research is beginning to elucidate associations between perturbations in the human microbiome and human disease and the factors that might be responsible for the perturbations. Studies have indicated that the human microbiome could be affected by environmental chemicals or could modulate exposure to environmental chemicals. Environmental Chemicals, the Human Microbiome, and Health Risk presents a research strategy to improve our understanding of the interactions between environmental chemicals and the human microbiome and the implications of those interactions for human health risk. This report identifies barriers to such research and opportunities for collaboration, highlights key aspects of the human microbiome and its relation to health, describes potential interactions between environmental chemicals and the human microbiome, reviews the risk-assessment framework and reasons for incorporating chemicalâ€"microbiome interactions.