Decoding the Human Microbiomes: Creating a Comprehensive Map of Human Intestinal Flora

In recent years, the gut microbiome has been of great interest in the medical community, because it provides a new target for the action of therapeutic drugs. But developing drugs that harness the gut microbiome requires knowledge of the species that inhabit it, as well as the substances they produce and the functions they play. This can be done by sequencing the genomes of the microorganisms present in the gut. Drugs based on specific genes present in our cells are already used in cancer treatment. In the future, doctors will also use knowledge of an individual’s gut microbiome to prescribe precision treatments. Prof. Insuk Lee at Yonsei University explains how.