Microbiome Research - Current Success and Further Challenges

In this presentation, Bernard Berger outlines what makes up the human microbiome and details some of the scientific breakthroughs of the past decade. The human microbiota is now considered a kind of organ of the body – one that is changing all the time and has an impact on our long-term health. 

He looks closely at the early life microbiome and the dynamics of infant gut microbiota including comparing studies from Europe, Asia and North America.  Studies point to the association of microbiota with health outcomes in infants in areas such as BMI, risk of childhood asthma and the risk of atopic diseases but many challenges remain before translating these results into standards for nutrition and therapeutics.