Discuss how the Human Microbiome Project will impact our understanding of human disease. What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: The genetic and metabolic contributions of the microbes that live on and in us are essential to
our survival. Because of their importance as agents of health and disease, the U.S. National
Institutes of Health launched the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) in 2007 to identify and
characterize the complex microbial communities that occupy the many ecological niches of
the human body.
Researchers estimate that the collective genome of this microbial community carries some 8
million different protein-coding genes (compared to the 20,000 in the human genome); some
of these genes are necessary for our survival. Because the human genome does not encode all
the enzymes we need to digest our food, the action of bacterial genes allows us to digest and
absorb essential nutrients.
The results from the HMP provide insight into the normal range of variation in the more than
10,000 species of microorganisms that inhabit our bodies. This information is being used to
examine changes in the microbiome that accompany and even cause disease.
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What will be an ideal response?