Context: Scientists are finding that ‘Gut Microbiota may be linked to heart health, some cancers, and even the color of urine.

About Human Microbiome Project (HMP)

• Aim: To generate the baseline microbiome data of Indians. 

• It will enable tracing trillions of microbes found in Indians, particularly on their skin. 

• Initiated by: This Union government-funded, Rs 150 crore project was initiated in 2019 by the Department of Biotechnology. 

• This study is being led by Pune’s National Centre for Microbial Resource (NCMR), which is a part of the National Centre for Cell Science.

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• In 2012, an international consortium of scientists launched the Human Microbiome Project that provided the first glimpses into the human body’s complex microbial makeup using genome sequencing.

About Human Microbiomes

• The human microbiome is a community of trillions of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi archaea, protists and viruses) that live in our body, especially in the digestive tract.

• These microbes change in response to the environment, diseases and human diets.

• It is a dynamic community that plays a pivotal role in regulating our health and diseases.

Probiotics

• Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms intended to maintain or improve the “good” bacteria (normal microflora) in the body. 

• These are foods (typically high-fiber foods) that act as food for human microflora. Prebiotics are used with the intention of improving the balance of these microorganisms.

Importance of Human Microbiomes

• These microorganisms are dynamic  and play a pivotal role in regulating human health and diseases including the way humans digest food, absorb nutrients, develop immunity, etc. 

• For example: Autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia are associated with dysfunction in the microbiome.

• Microbiota stimulate the immune system, break down potentially toxic food compounds, and synthesize certain vitamins and amino acids, including the B vitamins and vitamin K. 

• For example, the key enzymes needed to form vitamin B12 are only found in bacteria, not in plants and animals. 

Gut Microbes & Diseases

• Cardiometabolic Traits: Researchers identified a link between genetic variants in the ABO blood group and microbial genes involved in metabolizing N-acetylgalactosamine (an amino-sugar).

• This link provides a significance in identification of cardiometabolic traits, including lipid levels and blocks in blood vessels and risk of severe COVID-19 infections.

• Colorectal Cancer: Recently, researchers found that the development of colorectal cancer could be mediated by administering a molecule called trans-3-indoleacrylic acid (IDA) or implanting the microbe Peptostreptococcus anaerobius.

• The effects of IDA could be abolished by deleting two human genes – AHR or ALDH1A3.

• Neuronal Signaling: Gut microbes produce vitamin B12, which could influence neuronal signaling by influencing the availability of free choline.

• Choline is a molecule that neurons use to make a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.

• Jaundice: The human microbiome could be involved in the metabolism of urobilinogen. A bacterial enzyme, bilirubin reductase (BilR), is responsible for reducing bilirubin to urobilinogen.

• The yellow color of urine comes from a pigment called urobilinogen.