Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Microbiology

Learning about who we are

Microbial inhabitants outnumber our body's own cells by about ten to one. These residents have become the subject of intensive research, which is beginning to elucidate their roles in health and disease. See Articles p.207 & p.215

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Variation in diversity.

References

  1. Lederberg, J. Science 288, 287–293 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. The Human Microbiome Project Consortium Nature 486, 207–214 (2012).

  3. The Human Microbiome Project Consortium Nature 486, 215–221 (2012).

  4. Relman, D. A. & Falkow, S. Trends Microbiol. 9, 206–208 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. www.ploscollections.org/hmp

  6. Segata, N. et al. Nature Methods http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2066 (2012).

  7. Li, K., Bihan, M., Yooseph, S. & Methé, B. A . PLoS ONE 7, e32118 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Costello, E. K. et al. Science 326, 1694–1697 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Turnbaugh, P. J. et al. Nature 457, 480–484 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Qin, J. et al. Nature 464, 59–65 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Yatsunenko, T. et al. Nature 486, 222–227 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Costello, E. K., Stagaman, K., Dethlefsen, L., Bohannan, B. J. M. & Relman D. A . Science 336, 1255–1262 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A. Relman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Relman, D. Learning about who we are. Nature 486, 194–195 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/486194a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/486194a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing