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A microbiome is a full collection of microorganisms and the genetic material of a living being or a specific environment.

The term microbiome is most often used in reference to the human microbiome, and people will often discuss the microbiome without specifying that they mean the human variety. However, every living being has a microbiome.

The microbiome includes all of the cells that make up a living body and all of the microorganisms that exist within it that promote healthy life processes, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. For example, there are hundreds of millions of bacteria and other organisms within the body that promote digestion, protect against pathogens and disease, and extract toxins from the body. All negative or outside organisms that enter the body also effectively become a part of the microbiome and will be considered when evaluating someone’s condition or health.

Some of the first bacteria identified as living inside the bodies of healthy humans were E. coli, which aids digestion in the large intestine, and Veillonella parvula, which converts some harmful acids in the mouth into less harmful ones. In 2007, the scientific community launched a project called the Human Microbiome Project in order to learn more about these microorganisms.��

Example: The human microbiome includes so much more than bacteria and viruses.

The first records of the term microbiome come from around the early 2000s. It was coined by American biologist Joshua Lederberg and combines the term microbe, referring to microorganisms, and biome, which is a “complex community of distinctive species maintained under certain conditions in a particular region.”

What are some other forms related to microbiome?

• microbiomic (adjective)
• microbiomics (noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with microbiome?��

• microbe
• biome
• microbiology
• microbiota

What are some words that often get used in discussing microbiome?

• bacteria
• cell
• DNA
• gene
• organism

Microbiome is almost always used in scientific contexts and discussions.

I didn’t spend years writing a book about the immune system and skin microbiome and cultural influence of soap industry marketing and ethnographic origins of the concept of “clean” in order to do a billion interviews that center on whether or not I smell.

— James Hamblin (@jameshamblin)

Some people’s gut bacteria are better at breaking down food and extracting calories, which means that different people can receive different amounts of calories from the same food, depending on the type of one’s microbiome.

— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia)

I don’t think LA changed me but also I just spent 10 minutes explaining probiotics to my dad and the importance of microbiome diversity.

— Zach Kornfeld (@korndiddy)

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True or False?

A microbiome is determined only by the cells that make up the brain.