EN
The human microbiome is a complex collection of microorganisms, including their genes and the metabolites colonizing the human body, and playing various functions in health and disease. The arrival of culture-independent molecular techniques such as metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have removed the limitations imposed by culture-dependent techniques. These advanced techniques have also brought about some paradigm shifts in what is known about the structural and functional diversities of the human microbiome in health and disease. The dynamics of the human microbiome is implicated in a number of human gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal diseases. This makes it a contemporary issue in biological and medical sciences. Of interest, some applications have already emerged for the human microbiome. These include being the source of antimicrobial substances, faecal microbiome therapy, probiotics, prebiotics and phage therapy. Given that a number of factors can alter the host microbiome - such as environment, lifestyle, stage of life, occupation, mode of delivery, therapy and so on, there is a need for more human microbiome projects that will help to capture these diversities in various continents. Furthermore, for the full impact of the various applications (both potentials and current) of human microbiome to be felt, there is need for more studies that will fully elucidate their physiology in humans.