Welcome to the Microbiome Course

All animals coexist in intimate, dependent relationships with microbes. Humans are no exception. Host-microbe interactions are a fundamental survival tactic; a mutualistic co-dependence. Recent research suggests that the benefits derived by humans from their microbiotas may have profound consequences for health. Thus, disturbances in the delicate host-microbiota relationship are associated with a wide range of human disease states.    

In the following Lessons you will learn about the host-microbiota relationship and how important bacteria are in maintaining human health and wellbeing. The Lessons are as follows:

1. What is the microbiome?
2. Microbial structure and function
3. The gut anatomy and physiology
4. The evolution of our gut microbiome
5. The gut microbiome and disease
6. The microbiota through your lifespan
7. Antibiotics and probiotics and the microbiota
8. Special case: Obesity and the microbiome
9. The immune system and the microbiome
10. Therapeutics and future challenges for the microbiota 

Microbiome/Microbiota 101

Lesson 1:

By now you would have had some exposure to microbes and their role in health through popular media and press. In this Lesson we will introduce you to some general facts about microbes and some of their peculiarities. You will come to know your microbiota on a more intimate level and come to realise that these guys are not all bad. In fact, as you are more than aware, many microbes are needed for our survival. The key to developing a good sense of where we, as humans, are placed in this world is to look at the sheer number of microorganisms that exist and their essential role in planetary health. Without these guys, you and I would not exist. 

Learning Objectives

1. Define microbiota and microbiome

2. Appreciate the sheer number of microbes on and in the human body

3. Describe the difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes

4. Understand how bacteria are grouped: aerobic, anaerobic and fermentation

5. Describe ecological theory

Reading Activity: 

Please click HERE to read and review Lesson 1

Internet Activity:

Website to visit for more information

The University of Health Sciences at UTAH has an excellent introduction to the microbiome. Please visit the site here at: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/

Reading Activity: 

The following articles are also useful. They can be jargon heavy at times, but I know you are up to the task.

Reading 1:This article by Arrieta et al. (2014) in Frontiers in Immunology describes “the intestinal microbiome in early life: health and disease. It covers:

• Methods to study microbiomes
• Early-life gut microbial composition
• Factors that influence the development of the gut microbiota in children
• The role of the gut microbiome and paediatric disease
• Metabolic disease: obesity and malnutrition
• Asthma
• Autism: the gut brain axis

Reading 2: This article by Voreades et al. (2014) in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology describes “diet and the development of the human intestinal microbiome.” It covers:

• The importance of the gut microbiome
• Early microbial colonisation and establishment
• The adult microbiome
• The aging gut