Unified Microbiome Initiative

Leading scientists are urging for the creation of a major initiative to better understand the microbial communities critical to both human health and every ecosystem:

In two papers published simultaneously in the journals Science and Nature, the scientists called for a government-led effort akin to the Brain Initiative, a monumental multiyear project intended to develop new technologies to understand the human brain.

“This is the beginning of the shot to the moon,” said Jeffery F. Miller, the director of the California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a co-author of the Science paper. “There is so much to learn, and so many benefits of learning it.”

The White House is already considering increasing its support of research into the workings of these microbial communities, called microbiomes.

Among the authors on the Science article is our own Mary Ann Moran, professor of marine sciences and part of the Unified Microbiome Initiative Consortium. As the Times outlines, understanding microbial communities that make both the world and human bodies go round is fundamental to a wide range of policy and health investigations. Moran and other UGA researchers have and will continue to play a key role in this effort. Look for a seminar series this spring to learn more, plus more upcoming published research to connect the dynamics of the microbial community to the health of our bodies and the planet.

Image: Smoke rising from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which altered the diversity of microbes in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Gerald Herbert/Associated Press