The Integrative Human Microbiome Project

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 569; no. 7758; pp. 641 - 648
• Main Authors: Proctor, Lita M, Creasy, Heather H, Fettweis, Jennifer M, Lloyd-Price, Jason, Mahurkar, Anup, Zhou, Wenyu, Buck, Gregory A, Snyder, Michael P, Strauss, Jerome F, Weinstock, George M, White, Owen, Huttenhower, Curtis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.05.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 45/23; 45/91; 631/326/2565/2134; 692/699/249/2510/257; 692/699/2732; 692/699/2743/137/773; Bowel disease; Diet; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology; Genetic aspects; Genetic research; Genomes; Genomics; Host Microbial Interactions - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune system; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infections - complications; Infections - microbiology; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - microbiology; Metabolism; Microbiological research; Microbiomes; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microbiota - physiology; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) - organization & administration; Perspective; Prediabetic State - complications; Prediabetic State - microbiology; Pregnancy; Premature birth; Research - organization & administration; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Taxonomy; Time Factors; United States; Vagina; Vagina - microbiology; Womens health; United States
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1238-8

The NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP) has been carried out over ten years and two phases to provide resources, methods, and discoveries that link interactions between humans and their microbiomes to health-related outcomes. The recently completed second phase, the Integrative Human Microbiome Project, comprised studies of dynamic changes in the microbiome and host under three conditions: pregnancy and preterm birth; inflammatory bowel diseases; and stressors that affect individuals with prediabetes. The associated research begins to elucidate mechanisms of host–microbiome interactions under these conditions, provides unique data resources (at the HMP Data Coordination Center), and represents a paradigm for future multi-omic studies of the human microbiome. Over ten years, the Human Microbiome Project has provided resources for studying the microbiome and its relationship to disease; this Perspective summarizes the key achievements and findings of the project and its relationship to the broader field.