What is the importance of the microbiome and will it lead to cures?
The microbiome can affect conditions such as obesity and Crohn's disease, says Ask the Experts' Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health. Watch as Dr. Collins describes what the microbiome means for overall health.
Transcript
We're on, I think, a leading edge right now of trying to collect the really rigorous data, both about what those associations are
and how you might intervene with such a simple thing as a probiotic. [LIGHT UPBEAT MUSIC]
The microbiome is another great example of a revolution that's happened because of technology. I mean, we've had all these microbes living on us and in us
since we were Homo sapiens. But we haven't been able to actually sample them in any sort of systematic way, because many of those microbes
don't grow in the laboratory. But they have DNA or RNA. And so, we can find out what's there. We can take a census using our DNA sequencing capabilities.
And it's turning out to be an enormously interesting and rich field. And certainly, we're learning, particularly with the GI tract,
that what's going on there has a lot to do with your own health. We are a superorganism, not just an organism.
Those microbes outnumber us in terms of the number of cells. And if they are distorted in some way, they can contribute to things like obesity,
diabetes, Crohn's disease, maybe even autism. We're on, I think, a leading edge right now
of trying to collect the really rigorous data, both about what those associations are, and how you might intervene with such simple thing as a probiotic,
for instance. But clearly, there's a lot we're going to learn there that will have, I think profound consequences for health and prevention of illness.
genetic disorders birth defects
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