1) In the review article “Symbiotic gut microbes modulate human
metabolic phenotypes” (2007), Li et al explains that the gut microbiome can be linked to various metabolic phenotypes through the use of transgenomics and statistics. 2) Li et al demonstrates that population microbial cometabolic differences are reinforced by the structural differences found in the gut microbiomes of different nationalities, they also discuss functional metagenomics and how bacteria, such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, can alter host metabolism and therefore affect host health. 3) The purpose of this paper was to inform the reader about functional metagenomics so that it can be used to test the systemic effects related to drugs and diet in order to refine treatment options available in health care. 4) This paper provides a strong foundation for those looking to further their education on functional metagenomics, how they can be used to analyze the gut microbiome, and potentially refine how we treat patients in health care.
References:
Li M, Wang B, Zhang M, Rantalainen M, Wang S, Zhou H, Zhang Y, Shen J, Pang X, Zhang M, Wei H, Chen Y, Lu H, Zuo J, Su M, Qiu Y, Jia W, Xiao C, Smith L, Yang S, Holmes E, Tang H, Zhao G, Nicholson J, Li L, Zhao L. 2007. Symbiotic gut microbes modulate human metabolic phenotypes. PNAS 105:2117-2122.
