Moving beyond the gut microbiome: Combining systems biology and multi-site microbiome analyses to combat non-communicable diseases

Abstract

Human microbiome research is critical to understanding the causes and complications of non-communicable diseases. However, this research is primarily focused on the gut microbiota, which limits our understanding of how other microbiotas in the body further contribute or confound some observations. Further, investigations into other body sites are critical to understand how the immune system holistically interacts with the microbiome. By performing multi-site and multi-omics approaches, the human body can be considered as a system, with interacting parts. An appreciation for the relationships between an individual's distinct microbiomes, micro-environments, and the human host will likely provide advancements in preventing or treating non-communicable diseases.