Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
BMJ Mil Health. 2024 Sep 20;170(5):435-439. doi: 10.1136/military-2022-002308.
Microbiomes involve complex microbial communities wherein the micro-organisms interact with one another as well as their associated hosts or environmental niches. Much of the characterisation of these communities and the associations have been achieved through 'omics' technologies, such as metagenomics, metaproteomics and metametabolomics, and model systems. Recent research in host-associated microbiomes has been aimed at understanding the role microbes may play in host fitness or conversely how host activities/conditions may perturb the microbial community, which can further affect host health. These studies have led to the investigation of detection, intervention or modulation methods, which may serve to provide benefits to the host and advance our understanding of microbiome associations. With the clear implications on human health and disease, the US Department of Defense (DoD) has made microbiome research a priority, with the founding of the Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium (TSMC) to enhance collaboration, coordination,and communication of microbiome research among DoD organisations and partners in academia and industry. DoD microbiome research focuses mainly on the following themes: (1) human health and performance, (2) environmental microbiomes and (3) enabling technologies. This review provides an update of current DoD microbiome research efforts centred on enabling technologies and environmental microbiomes and highlights innovative research being done in academia and industry that can be leveraged by the DoD. These topics were also communicated and further discussed in the Fifth Annual TSMC Symposium. This paper forms part of the special issue of dedicated to personalised digital technology for mental health in the Armed Forces.
微生物组涉及复杂的微生物群落，其中微生物相互作用以及与它们相关的宿主或环境小生境相互作用。这些群落的特征和关联的大部分特征都是通过“组学”技术来实现的，例如宏基因组学、宏蛋白质组学和代谢组学，以及模型系统。最近关于宿主相关微生物组的研究旨在了解微生物在宿主适应性方面可能发挥的作用，或者相反，宿主活动/条件如何扰乱微生物群落，从而进一步影响宿主健康。这些研究导致了对检测、干预或调节方法的研究，这些方法可能有助于宿主受益，并促进我们对微生物组关联的理解。由于对人类健康和疾病的明显影响，美国国防部（DoD）已将微生物组研究作为优先事项，成立了三军微生物组联盟（TSMC），以加强国防部组织之间以及学术界和工业界合作伙伴之间的微生物组研究的协作、协调和沟通。DoD 的微生物组研究主要集中在以下主题：（1）人类健康和表现，（2）环境微生物组，（3）使能技术。本综述提供了关于使能技术和环境微生物组的当前 DoD 微生物组研究工作的最新更新，并强调了学术界和工业界正在进行的创新性研究，这些研究可以被 DoD 利用。这些主题也在第五届年度 TSMC 研讨会上进行了交流和进一步讨论。本文是专用于武装部队心理健康个性化数字技术的特刊的一部分。
