Restoring the Microbiome

Hopes are high that changing the microbiome will offer the chance to improve or even heal different environmental conditions, applying a number of new approaches that stem from metaorganism research. At the same time, the sheer complexity of host-microbiome interactions still makes it impossible today to even define what a healthy microbiome actually is, rendering microbiome interventions at present mostly experimentation that still require major advances in research. Despite a number of recurring bacterial species that always seem to be part of the human microbiota, a healthy microbiome composition might indeed be completely individual and differ largely between humans. Still, different approaches are being discussed that include interventions via diet, pre- or probiotics in an attempt to change the microbial colonization of individuals suffering from microbiome related diseases. Here, our experts give answers on the state of those different approaches and the challenges arising in the effort to restore a healthy microbiome.