The role of the gut microbiome in host systems

The presence of microbes exerts such a profound influence on animals that they are best considered holobionts - an organism comprised of multiple biological partners. The concept of dysbiosis is disease states that result from undesirable interactions between the partners in a holobiont. Many molecular mechanisms that link the gut microbiome with host health and disease have now been established and these are giving rise to new insights in healthcare. In essence these studies show that our microbiome is so closely intertwined with our physiology that microbiome composition is reflective of many aspects of our health. Of special importance is recognition of the intersection between chronic diet habits and the microbiome in driving changes in our physiological state. In the foreseeable future it is likely microbiome profiling will be a standard diagnostic test in diverse areas of medicine and that interventions targeting the microbiome will be developed.