Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Endoscopy

Microbiota in health and gastrointestinal disease

The human gut microbiota has become the subject of extensive research in recent years and our knowledge of the resident species and their potential functional capacity is rapidly growing. Our gut harbours a complex community of over 100 trillion microbial cells which influence human physiology, metabolism, nutrition and immune function while disruption to the gut microbiota has been linked with gastrointestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and obesity. Here, we review the many significant recent studies that have centered on further enhancing our understanding of the complexity of intestinal communities as well as their genetic and metabolic potential.