Exploring the Human Gut Microbiome: Promises, Limits, and Future Perspectives for Personalised Nutrition and Health

Abstract

Microbes are everywhere. Humans have always been greatly affected by their presence and we are only recently beginning to understand to what extent: the microbial world is not just in us, it is part of us. Indeed, it is the myriad patterns of causality, interconnection and mutualism with microbes what ultimately makes us who we are. In the last few decades, such a groundbreaking change of perspective has sparked a robust interest in scholars and professionals alike towards the study of the microbial communities – the microbiome – that inhabit the human body.

In particular, a remarkable increase in the number of startups operating in the gut microbiome sector in relation to food and nutrition has been registered in the past few years. What is the correlation between microbes living in our guts and the food we eat? How could we benefit from a thorough study of the human gut microbiome, and what are the possible risks associated with it? This dissertation aims at analysing the premises and promises of the gut microbiome within the field of nutritional sciences, imagining plausible future scenarios and reflecting on the role of microbes in human health.

This work has been largely based on field data and interviews from a EU–based Health Science company and various members of the bioinformatics lab – also based in the EU – cooperating with it.