Microbiome - The Power House of Health and Disease

Abstract

The field of microbiome is an exciting and rapidly expanding research over the past few decades that have become a topic of great scientific and public interest. Microbiome comprises a complex collection of microorganisms, with their genes and metabolites colonizing different body niches in a deep symbiotic relationship in the aspect of both health and diseases. Microbial populations vary across the body sites, driven by different environmental condition, immunological factors and interactions between microbial species. It is now well known that the microbiome interact with their host, assisting in the bioconversion of nutrients and detoxification, boosting immunity and protecting against pathogenic microbes, maintaining individuals’ health. A wide range of environmental factors can have an impact on gut microbiota imbalance, which has a strong link to health and disease. The microbial role in basic biological processes as well as the development and progression of major human diseases like infectious diseases, liver diseases, gastrointestinal cancers, metabolic diseases, respiratory diseases, mental or psychiatric diseases, and autoimmune diseases. Therefore, a perfect and sensitive balanced interaction of microbes with the host is required for a healthy body. With recent advances in genome sequencing and ‘meta-omics’ tools, culture-independent analyses of microbiomes have been made possible, thus accelerating the progress of microbiome research by leaps and bounds.