Zhongjie Wang

The human skin microbiome: from metagenomes to therapeutics Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 04 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01211-9In this Review, Oh and Voigt explore the major characteristics and functions of the skin microbiome, and they highlight potential therapeutic targets in the skin microbiome and ongoing progress in the development of skin microbiome-based therapeutics.

New online! The human skin microbiome: from metagenomes to therapeutics

It's #WorldMicrobiomeDay! To celebrate, learn about the science behind fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), from their beginnings as "yellow soup" to their role in fighting C. difficile infection and what the future holds: asm.org/articles/202...

Microbiome Day!

Who were the ancient Denisovans? Fossils reveal secrets about the mysterious humans Clues are emerging about the ghostly clan that settled eastern Asia and left a genetic legacy in people today.

Clues are emerging about the ghostly clan that settled eastern Asia and left a genetic legacy in people today

https://go.nature.com/3GX9EBR

Split-image with the text “TO BEE or NOT TO BEE.” The left side shows a vibrant wildflower meadow with a bee on a daisy, symbolising biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem. The right side shows a dry, barren landscape with dead trees and no visible wildlife, representing environmental degradation. An EU flag appears in the bottom right corner.

Today, over 20,000 bee species are buzzing for #WorldBeeDay 🐝

Bees & other pollinators keep 80% of crop and wild flowering plants alive.

Yet, 1 in 10 bee, hoverfly, and butterfly species are now at risk of extinction in the EU.

Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids and their role in human health and disease Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 13 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01183-wThe human intestinal microbiota ferments dietary fibre to short-chain fatty acids, which make an important contribution to host health. In this Review, Mukhopadhya and Louis discuss the luminal microbial production of short-chain fatty acids and their local and systemic actions on the host.

New online! Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids and their role in human health and disease

This month's editorial is an invitation to submit papers on clinical and translational aspect of the microbiome.

This collection is a joint effort with @naturemedicine.bsky.social @natcomms.nature.com and @commsbio.nature.com

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky 🦠⚕️🧪⚕️

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Microbial warfare brought us CRISPR. What big breakthroughs could be next? Gene editing and many other useful biotechnology tools came from studies of bacteria fighting off viral invaders. But scientists have only begun to unlock the secrets of this ancient arms race.

“To do better than CRISPR is a very tall order”

The hunt to dethrone CRISPR as the most transformative biological discovery of the century is on

https://go.nature.com/42VS0Xn

HCMPH Symposium | Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health We are delighted to invite everyone to the seventh annual Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center (HCMPH) symposium on May 19, 2025. We are happy to

Our microbiome community workshop has SOLD OUT🎉. Excited to spend a week with all registrants diving deep into microbiome analyses!
However our Microbiome Symposium in May is still open to register for both in-person and virtual attendees. Register at - hsph.me/hcmph2025

Clinical translation of microbiome research - Nature Medicine This Review summarizes recent and compelling examples of microbiome-based interventions that are ripe for clinical adoption while also discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the field.

Clinical translation of microbiome research
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Metabolites are not genes — avoiding the misuse of pathway analysis in metabolomics Nature Metabolism, Published online: 10 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01283-0Pathway analysis, originally developed for gene expression data, has been adapted for metabolomics. However, owing to the unique characteristics and constraints of metabolites compared with genes, pathway analysis in metabolomics often yields misleading or nonsensical results.

ICYMI:

Integrating microbial GWAS and single-cell transcriptomics reveals associations between host cell populations and the gut microbiome - Nature Microbiology A computational framework to integrate microbial GWAS and single-cell RNA-sequencing profiles of 24 human organs reveals interactions between the host cells and microbes.

Now online! 🖥️🧬🦠
A computational framework to integrate microbial GWAS and single-cell RNA-sequencing profiles of 24 human organs reveals interactions between the host cells and microbes

#MicroSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

That’s what a healthy gut microbiome wants🤔

Human microbiome acquisition and transmission Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 21 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01166-xEach human hosts a unique microbiome, but only recently have we started to uncover how such uniqueness can arise. In this Review, Heidrich, Valles-Colomer and Segata highlight studies that surveyed how we acquire and transmit our microbiome strains through interactions with other humans and the environment.

ICYMI: New online! Human microbiome acquisition and transmission

Interactions and evolutionary relationships among bacterial mobile genetic elements Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 11 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01157-yIn this Review, Lang and colleagues present an overview of the current knowledge landscape regarding mobile genetic elements in bacteria, with a focus on their…

New online! Interactions and evolutionary relationships among bacterial mobile genetic elements

Exciting workshop alert! Join us in Boston, June 2-6, for a week-long deep dive into microbial community multi-omics and stats using the bioBakery! Hosted by Huttenhower Lab & HCMPH, this hands-on course covers shotgun metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metabolomics—no prior experience needed 1/2

Profiling lateral gene transfer events in the human microbiome using WAAFLE - Nature Microbiology Applying WAAFLE to metagenomic data from human samples reveals over 100,000 putative LGTs not currently found in reference genomes, highlighting an underappreciated microbiome phenomenon.

OUT NOW Profiling lateral gene transfer events in the human microbiome using WAAFLE

@hutlab.bsky.social @efranzosa.bsky.social @harvardchanschool.bsky.social @longnguyen.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Frontiers | Understanding the role of Staphylococcus aureus in atopic dermatitis: strain diversity, microevolution, and prophage influences Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent inflammatory skin disorder characterized by chronic inflammation, skin barrier dysfunction, and microbial dysbiosis, wi...

The last piece of my PhD work was published in Frontiers in Medicine! Happy to share some perspectives on the role of Staphylococcus aureus in AD and stress the importance of strain level diversity!
www.frontiersin.org/journals/med...

Coffee consumption is associated with intestinal Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus abundance and prevalence across multiple cohorts - Nature Microbiology Coffee consumption is associated with the presence and abundance of a specific member of the human gut microbiome, Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus, and changes to the plasma metabolome.

🥁 New Publication Alert:

Our manuscript on the ☕️ and #microbiome relationship is out in #NatureMicrobiology:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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“Hello World”