Each of us harbors an enormous microbial community.

In the gut, these microbes form a metabolic organ whose genes outnumber those in the human genome by over 100-fold, and whose composition can change overnight. It is becoming increasingly clear that variation in these communities has important consequences for health. The Goodman Lab, in the Microbial Sciences Institute and Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, works to dissect the mechanisms that commensal microbes use to compete, cooperate, and antagonize each other in the gut. We explore how microbiome variation impacts our response to external perturbations, including pathogenic infection and medical drugs.

Hear about the lab's work on the Nature Podcast (starts at 0m 45s).