Microbiome-based Therapeutics: Cutting-edge Innovation or Perpetual Promise?

Recent preclinical and clinical research has established that the microbiome affects response to immunotherapy, and other work has shown that our diet has strong and rapid effects on the microbiome. Together, these findings have generated strong enthusiasm for the development of therapeutic approaches to exploit these effects. However, inconsistencies in sample collection and data analyses have made it challenging to evaluate the true impact of these interventions. We suggest that the research community needs to develop technical best practices before the true potential of therapeutic microbiome modulation can be realized.