The Human Microbiome Project has awarded more than $42 million to expand its exploration of how the trillions of microscopic organisms that live in or on our bodies affect our health, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on June 24th 2009.
The human microbiome is all the microorganisms that reside in or on the human body, as well as all their DNA, or genomes. Launched in 2007 as part of the NIH Common Funds Roadmap for Medical Research, the Human Microbiome Project is a $140 million, five-year effort that will produce a resource for researchers who are seeking to use information about the microbiome to improve human health.
