We live in a microbial world. You are covered in a cloud of about 100 trillion microorganisms, collectively known as your microbiome. Your home, and every environment you interact with, all host complex microbial ecosystems. We are just beginning to realize the potential that understanding these microbial communities holds for human health. What if in the near future, instead of relying on pills of chemically synthesized drugs, medicines relied on the trillions of beneficial microbes that naturally colonize our bodies? What if we could fine-tune the makeup of our microbiome to prevent and treat infectious, autoimmune, metabolic, or psychiatric diseases? Or are we overpromising? Given the tremendous potential of the field to impact human health, how should scientists and companies manage public expectations?
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