Sequencing our gut bacteria: the hype and hope of another big science project

I regularly write about the microbiome – the trillions of bacteria that share our bodies with us, and the genes that they carry. At the recent International Human Microbiome Congress in Paris, I was immediately struck by two things. First, the field is clearly growing. It’s full of scientists who are doing great work to understand our bacterial associates, and who are glad that the microbes are finally hitting the big time. But I also felt a familiar twang. When one of the initial speakers described the quest to sequence our microbiome as the “biggest life sciences project of all time”, and when people spoke of new ways to diagnose and treat diseases, I was reminded about the hype that surrounded the Human Genome Project, back when our DNA had not yet been fully sequenced. When people showed communities of microbes that were associated with diseases, with no clear sense ...