microbiome

microbiome

English

Etymology

From micro- +‎ biome or blend of microbiota +‎ genome.

Noun

microbiome (plural microbiomes)

  1. (genetics) The genetic information (genomes) of a microbiota.
    • 2012 August, “Defining the Human Microbiome”, in Nutrition Reviews‎[1], volume 70, number Suppl. 1, pages S38–S44:
      The human microbiota consists of the 10-100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells harbored by each person, primarily bacteria in the gut; the human microbiome consists of the genes these cells harbor.
    • 2018 March 26, Nicola Davis, “The human microbiome: why our microbes could be key to our health”, in The Guardian‎[2], archived from the original on 28 April 2021:
      Your body’s microbiome is all the genes your microbiota contains, however colloquially the two terms are often used interchangeably.
  2. (biology) A microbial biome, such as the community of microbes within the human gut.
    • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist‎[3], volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
      Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
    • 2014 June 30, Wayne Koberstein, “Second Genome”, in Life Science Leader‎[4], volume 6, number 7, page 14:
      The microbiome creates the immediate environment for our genes as they play out their part in disease mechanisms.
    • 2019 October 7, Sandee LaMotte, “The germiest place in your home and the best way to combat those microbes”, in CNN‎[5], archived from the original on 9 March 2023:
      Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are just fine for us, perhaps even beneficial to our microbiomes and immune systems. We don’t care about those.
    • 2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 18:
      For your community of microbes— your 'microbiome' — your body is a planet.

Derived terms

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