Science Trends for 2013: Microbiomes

This past year, science research has seen an increase in focus on human genome and diseases and earth's microbiomes. 

At the past AGBT convention, Kjersti Aagaard gave an amazing presentation on the human placentia. Her group claims that this is not a sterile organ and that it harbors a  non-pathogenic commensal microbiome which was the most similar to the oral cavity microbiome. Kjersti concludes that she believes that the fetus is not sterile and that the microbiome may be related to the immune tolerance of neonates. 

Jonas Korlach from PBS and Stephan Schuster from Penn State University also touched on tools for microbial sequencing at the convention. They discussed a new assembly approach  and sequencing environmental microbes. He stressed that much of earth's microbiome remains undefined and unidentified. 

This year and the next years to come will have more and more scientists leading extensive research on microbiome identification and advanced human microbiome projects.