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Do bacteria in our gut cause cancer or influence our brains’ development? Do they dictate whether we are over-weight or skinny? And if so, how could we as humans take control over the billions of microorganisms that live inside us? These and many other questions are currently discussed by more than 500 scientific experts at the International Human Microbiome Conference (IHMC), held from 31 March to 2 April in Luxembourg. The microbiome describes the community of all microbial organisms that live in and on our body which accounts for around 1.5 kg of our body mass. For the past 5 years, this eco-system of our body is under intense study for its potentially tremendous impact on human health. “We are proud to host the world’s biggest microbiome conference this year in Luxembourg”, says Prof. Dr. Paul Wilmes, head of the Eco-Systems Biology group at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg, who was part of the scientific committee of the congress co-organised by the International Human Microbiome Consortium and IBBL (Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg). “This conference not only allowed us to invite more than 50 distinguished experts from around the world to discuss about the latest trends in microbiome research, it also gives Luxembourg the chance to show what it has built up recently in this domain”. Both the LCSB and the IBBL have heavily invested into and often join forces in microbiome research in the last years. While Luxembourg’s Biobank is one of the leading experts in the storage and conservation of stool samples for research purposes, the two research teams of LCSB at the forefront of experimental and computational microbiome research: Prof. Dr. Paul Wilmes and his team from the Eco-System Biology group have developed novel methods to study the composition of the microbiome with high-throughput omics methods. In addition, they have developed “HuMiX” – a device to efficiently study in the interaction between microorganisms and the human hostin vitro. Computationally oriented, Prof. Dr. Ines Thiele and her team from the Molecular Systems Physiology group, create comprehensive metabolic models of bacteria and the human host to predict their interaction and simulate the effects of diet or therapeutic interventions on human health and disease. Both LCSB’s principal investigators have hosted satellite workshops on “COBRA Workshop on Modelling Microbial Communities” and “Integrated omics for microbiome analyses” for interested participants. “It has been a great experience to welcome and teach 120 PhD students and postdocs from around the world about cutting edge research in these emerging disciplines within the field of human microbiome research”, enthuses Prof. Dr. Ines Thiele. “I am convinced that new research ideas and collaborations that where born at these workshops will soon teach us more about the microbial world within us.”

