(NYT) – The human microbiome is essential to our health, but scientists still know very little about it. Two researchers set out to map this largely uncharted terrain.

Poyet and Groussin suspected that the answers to those questions lurked not in the 10 percent of the canvas that scientists were looking at but in the remaining 90 percent. They had long, digressive conversations — in the lab and at home, over hasty meals and occasionally long walks — about how to uncover that bigger picture. So far they had been gathering data and samples piecemeal, from colleagues and collaborators. What they needed instead was a comprehensive approach: to collect as many microbiome samples from as many different communities in as many parts of the world as possible, and then to interview the people who contributed those samples about anything that might be affecting their internal microbial ecosystems, including their diets and lifestyles. (Read More)