Microbiomes and tuberculosis
The term microbiome refers to the community of bacteria and other microorganisms that live on or in a specific environment or host. In the past decade, advances in technology have led to an explosion of research showing connections between human health and the microbiome. Researchers have been working toward understanding how the microbiome functions in healthy individuals, and how changes to the microbiome can impact health. The figure below summarizes some of the knowledge that this flood of microbiome research has generated.
In the past few years, studies have begun to show links between the microbiome and tuberculosis in humans and mice. These studies have begun to reveal striking differences between healthy individuals and those with tuberculosis (Maji et al 2018, Wood et al 2017). However, human studies have only looked at "snapshots" of the microbiome, because of the logistical challenges associated with longitudinal human studies.
The goal of our project is to study tuberculosis in a natural population of a social mammal, the African buffalo, to understand how the microbiome can affect risk of tuberculosis and long-term impacts of the disease on microbiome composition and stability. Our unique study system will allow us to answer some elusive questions about the microbiome, and contribute to the fight against tuberculosis.
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