The Human Microbiome Project

Filed in archive Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics , Microbiology on December 22, 2007

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced the official launch of the Human Microbiome Project, the collective genomes of all microorganisms present in or on the human body.

Part of the NIH's Roadmap for Medical Research, the Human Microbiome Project will award a total of $115 million to researchers over the next five years. Initially, researchers will sequence 600 microbial genomes, completing a collection that will total some 1,000 microbial genomes and providing a resource for investigators interested in exploring the human microbiome. Other microbial genomes are being contributed to the collection by individual NIH institutes and internationally funded projects. A meeting between international partners was recently convened to discuss forming an international consortium.

Using metagenomic sequencing, the genomes of 200 microbes that have been isolated from the human body, will be sequenced. Researchers will also begin recruiting healthy Volunteers who will donate samples from the five body regions.

Source: National Human Genome Research Insitute
Photo Credit: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention