Introduction
The microbiome is one of the hottest areas in biotechnology, as countless studies have linked its composition and activity with human disease1,2, especially in illnesses of poorly understood mechanisms, with high medical unmet needs. Some authors have even proposed that the definition of communicable disease may have to be revisited after advances in microbiome science have shown some ailments believed to be noncommunicable may be transmitted through microbes3,4. This why it has been referred to as a forgotten organ5 which may thus be the missing link to better diagnose and potentially cure many diseases. This has made thousands of companies focus their attention on it.
Microbiome research has traditionally been performed by food companies developing probiotics and prebiotics. However, over the last years, and thanks to recent discoveries of how human disease and resident bacteria are interconnected, the field is also capturing attention from pharmaceutical companies which see the microbiome as a tool to develop new blockbuster drugs. This is why a number of biotechs, mostly startups, have launched microbiome-centric research programs.