A new non-profit program called MyMicrobes aims to integrate
aspects of a social network and a DNA database to learn more
about the bacteria living in the human gut. Calling for
interested people to have their gut bacteria sequenced (for
about $2,100, paid for by participants) and share information
about their diets and gastrointestinal problems, the program
hopes to gather the data needed to finally understand how our
commensals affect the physiology of the GI tract, in addition to
giving participants a forum to connect with individuals with
similar problems. "I got between 50 and 100 e-mails from regular
people having problems with the stomach or diarrhoea and
wondering if we can help them," Peer Bork, a biochemist at the
European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany,
told Nature. "There must be a lot of frustrated people out
there." So he and his colleagues decided to start MyMicrobes,
which launched yesterday (September 8). Participants that sign
up for the program receive a stool-sample co