The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.

“In Missing Microbes, Martin Blaser sounds [an] alarm. He patiently and thoroughly builds a compelling case that the threat of antibiotic overuse goes far beyond resistant infections.”—Nature Renowned microbiologist Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the equilibrium and health of our bodies. Now this invisible Eden is under assault from our overreliance on medical advances including antibiotics and caesarian sections, threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes and leading to severe health consequences. Taking us into the lab to recount his groundbreaking studies, Blaser not only provides elegant support for his theory, he guides us to what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future. “Missing Microbes is science writing at its very best—crisply argued and beautifully written, with stunning insights about the human microbiome and workable solutions to an urgent global crisis.”—David M. Oshinsky, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Polio: An American Story

This newly revised edition contains updated versions of all of the topics that were in the first edition and has been substantially expanded with an additional 5 chapters. Each chapter includes information from the most up-to-date research on how nutritional factors can affect bone health, written with an evidence-based focus and complete with comprehensive references for each subject. Nutrition and Bone Health, second edition covers all aspects of nutrition and the skeleton, from the history and fundamentals, to the effects of macronutrients, minerals, vitamins, and supplements, and even covers the effects of lifestyle, the different life stages, and nutrition-related disorders and secondary osteoporosis. New chapters include HIV & AIDs and the skeleton, celiac disease and bone health, and nutrition and bone health in space. Nutrition and Bone Health, second edition is a necessary resource for health care professionals, medical students, graduate students, dietitians, and nutritionists who are interested in how nutrition affects bone health during all stages of life.

Composed of nearly a thousand different types of microorganisms - some beneficial, others not - the human gut microbiota plays an important role in health and disease. This is due to the presence of probiotic or beneficial microbes, or due to the feeding of prebiotics that stimulate the endogenous beneficial microbes (these promote health by stimulating the immune system, improving the digestion and absorption of nutrients, and inhibiting the growth of pathogens). The notable health benefits of probiotic organisms have prompted much commercial interest, which in turn has led to a plethora of research initiatives in this area. These range from studies to elucidate the efficacy of the various health benefits to analyses of the diet-microbe interaction as a means of modulating the gut microbiota composition. Research in this area is at a very exciting stage. With state-of-the-art commentaries on all aspects of probiotics and prebiotics research, this book provides an authoritative and timely overview of the field. Written by leading international researchers, each chapter affords critical insight to a particular topic, reviews current research, discusses future direction, and stimulates discussion. Topics range from the different microorganisms used as probiotics (lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, yeast, etc.), and the techniques and approaches used (metagenomics, etc.), to the reviews of the clinical and medical aspects. The provision of extensive reference sections positively encourages readers to pursue each subject in greater detail. *** Librarians: ebook available on ProQuest and EBSCO [Subject: Microbiology, Life Science]

The second edition of Avian Immunology provides an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of avian immunology. From the ontogeny of the avian immune system to practical application in vaccinology, the book encompasses all aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in chickens. In addition, chapters are devoted to the immunology of other commercially important species such as turkeys and ducks, and to ecoimmunology summarizing the knowledge of immune responses in free-living birds often in relation to reproductive success. The book contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system, encompassing the mucosal, enteric, respiratory and reproductive systems. The diseases and disorders it covers include immunodepressive diseases and immune evasion, autoimmune diseases, and tumors of the immune system. Practical aspects of vaccination are examined as well. Extensive appendices summarize resources for scientists including cell lines, inbred chicken lines, cytokines, chemokines, and monoclonal antibodies. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, as well as the threat of avian influenza pandemics like H5N1 and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks makes this book a vital resource. This book provides crucial information not only for poultry health professionals and avian biologists, but also for comparative and veterinary immunologists, graduate students and veterinary students with an interest in avian immunology. - With contributions from 33 of the foremost international experts in the field, this book provides the most up-to-date review of avian immunology so far - Contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system reviewing constitutive barriers, chemical and cellular responses; it includes a comprehensive review of avian Toll-like receptors - Contains a wide-ranging review of the "ecoimmunology" of free-living avian species, as applied to studies of population dynamics, and reviews methods and resources available for carrying out such research

Gut Microbiota: Interactive Effects on Nutrition and Health focuses on the fascinating intestinal microbiome as it relates to nutrition. The book covers the core science in the microbiome field and draws links between the microbiome and nutrition in medicine. Reflecting the most current state of evidence available in the field, the early chapters introduce key concepts about the microbiome, and the latter focus on the application of the gut microbiome and nutrition science. Both human studies and animal studies (where appropriate) are discussed throughout the work. Addressing topics such as gut microbiota throughout the lifespan, gut microbiota in health and disease, and genetic and environmental influences on gut microbiota, this book will provide scientists and clinicians who have an interest in the microbiome with an understanding of the future potential and limitations of this tool as they strive to make use of evidence-based diet information for the maintenance of good health. - Explores how diet influences gut microbiota - Consolidates new research on how gut microbiota affects nutrition - Identifies how the research applies to food science - Provides practical diet suggestions for improving health

Infectious diseases have existed longer than us, as long as us, or are relatively newer than us. It may be the case that a disease has existed for many, many years but has only recently begun affecting humans. At the turn of the century the number of deaths caused by infections in the United States had been falling steadily but since the '80s has seen an increase. In the past 30 years alone 37 new pathogens have been identified as human disease threats and 12% of known human pathogens have been classified as either emerging or remerging. Whatever the story, there is currently a "war" on infectious diseases. This war is simply the systematic search for the microbial "cause" of each disease, followed by the development of antimicrobial therapies. The "war" on infectious diseases, however, must be revisited in order to develop a more realistic and detailed picture of the dynamic interactions among and between host organisms and their diverse populations of microbes. Only a fraction of these microbes are pathogens. Thus, in order to explore the crafting of a new metaphor for host-microbe relationships, and to consider how such a new perspective might inform and prioritize biomedical research, the Forum on Microbial Threats of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened the workshop, Ending the War Metaphor: The Changing Agenda for Unraveling the Host-Microbe Relationship on March 16-17, 2005. Workshop participants examined knowledge and approaches to learning about the bacterial inhabitants of the human gut, the best known host-microbe system, as well as findings from studies of microbial communities associated with other mammals, fish, plants, soil, and insects. The perspective adopted by this workshop is one that recognizes the breadth and diversity of host-microbe relationships beyond those relative few that result in overt disease. Included in this summary are the reports and papers of individuals participating in the Forum as well as the views of the editors.

People's desire to understand the environments in which they live is a natural one. People spend most of their time in spaces and structures designed, built, and managed by humans, and it is estimated that people in developed countries now spend 90 percent of their lives indoors. As people move from homes to workplaces, traveling in cars and on transit systems, microorganisms are continually with and around them. The human-associated microbes that are shed, along with the human behaviors that affect their transport and removal, make significant contributions to the diversity of the indoor microbiome. The characteristics of "healthy" indoor environments cannot yet be defined, nor do microbial, clinical, and building researchers yet understand how to modify features of indoor environmentsâ€"such as building ventilation systems and the chemistry of building materialsâ€"in ways that would have predictable impacts on microbial communities to promote health and prevent disease. The factors that affect the environments within buildings, the ways in which building characteristics influence the composition and function of indoor microbial communities, and the ways in which these microbial communities relate to human health and well-being are extraordinarily complex and can be explored only as a dynamic, interconnected ecosystem by engaging the fields of microbial biology and ecology, chemistry, building science, and human physiology. This report reviews what is known about the intersection of these disciplines, and how new tools may facilitate advances in understanding the ecosystem of built environments, indoor microbiomes, and effects on human health and well-being. It offers a research agenda to generate the information needed so that stakeholders with an interest in understanding the impacts of built environments will be able to make more informed decisions.