{
  "abstract": "At around 10 years ago, at the time of the first publication by the Gut Microbiota for Health Expert Panel of the British Society of Gastroenterology, recognition of the gut microbiome’s importance in health and disease was transitioning from fringe interest towards major global pursuit. A decade on, we appraise the considerable progress made in the field, while acknowledging ongoing challenges. Earlier human work characterising the 16S rRNA gene amplicon signature of particular conditions in small cohorts has been superseded by larger, multicentre studies with extensive metadata. Studies increasingly employ shotgun metagenomics and other ‘omic’ techniques—coupled with refined bioinformatic tools and disease models—to better characterise perturbation in gut microbiome functionality. The arrival of ‘gold standard’ pipelines for microbiome analysis and increased mechanistic validation of signals are key developments towards more clinically-translatable outcomes. Novel clinical areas where the gut microbiome has relevance have emerged, including early life and the efficacy of certain treatments (including immune checkpoint inhibitors and vaccination). Enthusiasm for ‘microbiome diagnostics and treatments’ has grown, but barriers to widespread adoption remain. Faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is established for treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, with donor-derived ‘next generation’ FMT products licensed for this condition in certain countries. Beyond FMT, other microbial therapeutic techniques—including nutritional, bacteriophage and probiotic therapies—show promise, but have not fulfilled their high expectations yet. Gut microbiome research is now well-established and shows significant translational potential; the future focus will be translational work to drive its utility in clinical diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK",
        "Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK",
        "Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit, St Mark's National Bowel Hospital, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "James L Alexander"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK",
        "Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Benjamin H Mullish"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Gut Microbiota for Health Expert Panel, British Society of Gastroenterology, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Linda Thomas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medical Centre Groningen and University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Rinse K Weersma"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Sorbonne Université, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine, Paris, France",
        "Université Paris-Saclay, INRAe, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, Jouy-en-Josas, France",
        "Gut, Liver & Microbiome Research (GLIMMER) FHU, Paris, France"
      ],
      "name": "Harry Sokol"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Lauren A Roberts"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Host Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry and Oral Craniofacial Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Lindsey A Edwards"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neuro-gastroenterology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Anton Emmanuel"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Human Nutrition, University of Glasgow School of Medicine Dentistry and Nursing, Glasgow, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Konstantinos Gerasimidis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Food, Microbiome and Health, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich, UK",
        "Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Lindsay J Hall"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Tariq H Iqbal"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "James M Kinross"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "EnteroBiotix Ltd, Bellshill, UK"
      ],
      "name": "James McIlroy"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK",
        "Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, Translational Medical Sciences Unit, University of Nottingham School of Medicine, Nottingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Tanya M Monaghan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Science, Research, and Innovation, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, South Mimms, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Chrysi Sergaki"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Debbie L Shawcross"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Christopher J Stewart"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK",
        "Department of Gastroenterology, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Christopher A Lamb"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK",
        "Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Horace R T Williams"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Dundee College of Medicine Dentistry and Nursing, Dundee, UK",
        "School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Richard Hansen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Microbiome Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Georgina Hold"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Recent advances in our understanding of the gut microbiome: an analysis from the Gut Microbiota for Health Expert Panel of the British Society of Gastroenterology",
  "uid": "5d776add-586b-5058-afd5-5dbccd5ee048"
}