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DNA Research Advance Access originally published online on January 15, 2009
DNA Research 2009 16(1):1-12; doi:10.1093/dnares/dsn033
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© The Author 2009. Kazusa DNA Research Institute
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Invited Review

The Human Intestinal Microbiome: A New Frontier of Human Biology

Masahira Hattori1,* and Todd D. Taylor2

1 Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kasiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan
2 RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan

Received 11 November 2008 ; accepted 3 December 2008.

To analyze the vast number and variety of microorganisms inhabiting the human intestine, emerging metagenomic technologies are extremely powerful. The intestinal microbes are taxonomically complex and constitute an ecologically dynamic community (microbiota) that has long been believed to possess a strong impact on human physiology. Furthermore, they are heavily involved in the maturation and proliferation of human intestinal cells, helping to maintain their homeostasis and can be causative of various diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease and obesity. A simplified animal model system has provided the mechanistic basis for the molecular interactions that occur at the interface between such microbes and host intestinal epithelia. Through metagenomic analysis, it is now possible to comprehensively explore the genetic nature of the intestinal microbiome, the mutually interacting system comprising the host cells and the residing microbial community. The human microbiome project was recently launched as an international collaborative research effort to further promote this newly developing field and to pave the way to a new frontier of human biology, which will provide new strategies for the maintenance of human health.

Key words: microbiome; microbiota; gut; metagenomics

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hattori{at}k.u-tokyo.ac.jp


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