BoCP-Design: US-China: Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms that drive human microbiome diversity

About This Grant

The beneficial microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) within the human body, known as the microbiome, are essential for health. Changes to the microbiome are linked to many different diseases, including dental decay, periodontal disease, obesity, Type II diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and mental health disorders. Recent research found that the human microbiome changed significantly in modern times, as people in Industrialized countries have different microbiomes from those living elsewhere. This project will reconstruct the history of the human oral microbiome on a worldwide scale to better understand these how these changes impacted human health, starting with three different areas that experienced the intensification of agriculture. By looking at bacteria trapped within tartar—calcified dental plaque that preserves the microbiome in ancient people—this research will describe how the microbiome within the human body changed over time in response to geographical, environmental, and cultural shifts. Reconstructing the origins of the modern oral microbiome will provide important information to improve oral health in the future and understand how ongoing cultural, dietary, and environmental changes shape microbial communities in the human body today. Through training initiatives, international collaborations, and interdisciplinary seminars, this project will cultivate a well-equipped research community dedicated to advancing microbiome science and the history of human health. This research will reconstruct the history of the human oral microbiome on a global scale by establishing an international, interdisciplinary network. The researchers aim to understand the mechanisms driving microbial variation and adaptation over space and time. To establish protocols, methodologies, and frameworks to investigate how microbial communities have evolved over time and space, the researchers will conduct a pilot study using ancient dental calculus from three key areas of agricultural intensification. The research will explore how bacterial species and microbial communities adapt or disappear from the human microbiome, providing necessary data to predict microbial responses to future environmental and technological shifts. This work has profound implications for understanding human microbial diversity, supporting microbiome related health, and uncovering novel microbial functions that could be leveraged for antimicrobial or probiotic development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.