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A crucial consideration for the clinical application of any burgeoning science is when the understanding of that field can be implemented without the risk of unforeseen harm. In our opinion, the need for caution is particularly urgent with respect to increasingly prevalent applications of microbiome science to medicine.
The human microbiome has captured the attention of both researchers and the lay press. Given its emerging role in health and disease, it is imperative that studies are communicated well so that in turn the public does not misinterpret the findings.
Immune interventions capable of preventing or eradicating HIV infection have yet to achieve broad success in humans. Renewed vigor in the clinical trial arena may bring us closer to that goal.
Max Nieuwdorp is an internist, endocrinologist and vascular medicine specialist at Amsterdam University Medical Centers. He chairs the Diabetes Center there and is chief of the Department and Laboratory of Vascular Medicine.
Ami Bhatt is a physician-scientist and assistant professor of medicine and genetics at Stanford University. Her research deploys next-generation sequencing to explore host–microbiome interactions, including those in cancer.