On the Origins and Control of Community Types in the Human Microbiome

Travis E. Gibson, Amir Bashan, Hong-Tai Cao, Scott T. Weiss, Yang-Yu Liu

Abstract: Author Summary We coexist with a vast number of microbes that live in and on our bodies, and play important roles in physiology and disease. Two interesting phenomena have been observed in the human microbiome. The first is the stratification of healthy individuals based on the relative abundances of their microbes, which holds promise for drastically improving personalized medicine. The second is the astounding success of fecal microbial transplantation in treating certain diseases related to disordered microbiomes. Surprisingly, both phenomena have not been analytically or quantitatively understood, despite a few early qualitative attempts. This work shows that through a dynamic systems and control theoretical approach the success of fecal microbial transplantation can be explained and that the microbiome-based stratification can be as simple as the existence of strongly interacting species.