2015 AAAS Annual Meeting (12-16 February 2015)

February 12 - 16, 2015

To Bug or Not to Bug the Immune System: Benefits and Costs of Altering the Microbiome

The Human Microbiome Project strives to understand the complexity, constitution, and diversity of microbes living on and in the human body. The term “super organism” has been coined to describe humans as a result of characterization of the breadth and diversity of microbes that constitute the microbiome. What roles do commensal and pathogenic organisms play in health and disease? What role does dysbiosis play in health and disease? Development of the microbiome begins before birth, and the nature of this colonization influences susceptibility to disease later in life. In addition, homeostasis of the microbiome is under continual attack because of exposure encountered in daily life, such that exposure to toxic chemicals can shift the dominant characteristics of the microbiome and alter disease susceptibility. Individuality of the microbiome contributes to homeostatic balance of the immune system and inter-individual differences in susceptibility to many complex diseases including allergic disease, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. Considerable effort is needed to further understand how the human microbiome, and alterations thereof, can have profound implications for the development of complex immune and inflammatory diseases. This symposium provides evidence of beneficial and detrimental contributions of the microbiome to the development of such diseases and insight into how microbiome research integrates into human health risk assessment.