Health Corner: Minor role for host genetics in shaping the microbiota/Story: Six Crows

Health Corner: Minor role for host genetics in shaping the microbiota The composition of the human gut microbiome is determined by many factors. Eran Segal and colleagues performed an extensive statistical analysis of the largest metagenomics-sequenced human cohort so far to determine the contribution of host genotype to microbiome composition. Host genetics has only a minor influence on microbiome variability, which is more strongly associated with environmental factors such as diet. The authors propose a 'microbiome-association index' that describes the association of the microbiome with host phenotype. Combining this measurement with host genetic and environmental data improves the accuracy of predictions about several human metabolic traits, such as glucose and obesity traits. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25973?platform=hootsuite Story: Six Crows. By Leo Lionni