20150226 - microbiome

What is the Microbiome?

The human microbiome is the population of more than 100 trillion microorganisms that live in our gut, mouth, skin and elsewhere in our bodies. These microbial communities have numerous beneficial functions relevant to supporting life. They are needed to digest food, to prevent disease-causing bacteria from invading the body, and to synthesize essential nutrients and vitamins.
The total number of genes associated with the human microbiome exceeds the total number of human genes by a factor of 100-to-one. With the advancement of genomic technologies, the capacity of this “second genome” to influence health can now be harnessed as a function of the whole community rather than as isolated bacterial species.

The Microbiome and Human Health

Recent scientific discoveries are forcing the industry to rethink how changes in the microbiome influence human health, and Second Genome is among the first companies translating microbiome discoveries into novel therapeutics. Second Genome is pioneering a path for commercial development in this untapped area.
Published microbiome research makes clear that the human microbiome is a fundamental component of human physiology. Changes in the microbiome can cause changes to human cellular activities that result in disease or contribute to its progression. Unlike traditional discovery efforts that have focused on the human side of the equation, Second Genome believes that therapeutic product breakthroughs can be made by focusing on how the microbiota interacts with itself and with its human host to impact health and disease.
Second Genome has developed a proprietary approach for generating small molecule, peptide biologic, probiotic and symbiotic product candidates that modulate microbe-microbe and microbe-human interactions that contribute to health and disease. This approach is based on understanding microbial community composition and function in healthy and diseased conditions. These profiles also form the basis for the discovery of novel biomarkers used for the development of novel drugs and diagnostics.

 http://www.secondgenome.com/what-is-the-microbiome/