microbiome

noun

mi·​cro·​bi·​ome ˌmī-krō-ˈbī-ˌōm 

1

: a community of microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that inhabit a particular environment and especially the collection of microorganisms living in or on the human body

Your body is home to about 100 trillion bacteria and other microbes, collectively known as your microbiome.

—Carl Zimmer

… what's arguably become the hottest area of medicine: microbiome research, an emerging field that's investigating how the bacteria that live in and on our bodies affect our health.

—Sunny Sea Gold

2

: the collective genomes of microorganisms inhabiting a particular environment and especially the human body

They form one community among the many that make up the human microbiome: the full genetic complement of bacteria and other organisms at home on your skin, gums, and teeth, in your genital tract, and especially in your gut.

—Nathan Wolfe

Examples of microbiome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Reavey recommends weekly scalp treatments to remove build-up on the scalp, ensuring the microbiome stays balanced and clean. —Sophia Panych, Allure, 2 Apr. 2024

The resistant starch from potatoes has also been found to improve insulin sensitivity and be super beneficial for the health of the gut microbiome. —Maria Berentzen, Vogue, 25 Mar. 2024

So especially diets that support gut health, because the microbiome can influence your cognitive health and your mood. —Eileen Finan, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024

Air Pollution Might Age Skin, But Is Anti-Pollution Skincare the Fix? Our skin hosts a microflora, or microorganisms that are similar to the microbiome of the gut, that helps protect against invading pathogens. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2024

The authors conclude that ME/CFS is primarily a brain disorder, probably brought on by immune dysfunction and changes in the gut microbiome. Dr. Anthony Komaroff, who studies ME/CFS at Harvard Medical School, says this is fully consistent with existing research. —Will Stone, NPR, 23 Feb. 2024

Bacteria in the gut microbiome play an important role in maintaining good health. —Laura Williamson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2024

Factors that have been considered include the environment, changes in the gut microbiome and obesity. —Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024

Gene Editing Research underway into gene editing – intentionally altering the genetic code of a living organism – may also have the potential to change the microbes that produce methane in livestock’s gut microbiomes. —Paul Winters, Discover Magazine, 16 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

micro- + biome

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

microbiome

noun

mi·​cro·​bi·​ome ˌmī-krō-ˈbī-ˌōm 

1

: a community of microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that inhabit a particular environment and especially the collection of microorganisms living in or on the human body

The intestinal microbiome consists of the microorganisms that inhabit the gut.

—Clara Abraham et al., The New England Journal of Medicine

Collectively known as the microbiome, this community may play a role in regulating one's risk of obesity, asthma and allergies.

—Carrie Arnold, Scientific American

The human oral microbiome comprises all microbial species in the oral cavity.

—Naomi P. O'Grady, The Journal of the American Medical Association

2

: the collective genomes of microorganisms inhabiting a particular environment and especially the human body

As part of a new citizen-science initiative called the American Gut project, the lab sequenced my microbiome—that is, the genes not of "me," exactly, but of the several hundred microbial species with whom I share this body.

—Michael Pollan, The New York Times

Together, the genomes of these microbial symbionts (collectively defined as the microbiome) provide traits that humans did not need to evolve on their own.

—Peter J. Turnbaugh et al., Nature