About Gut Microbiome Testing

The gut microbiome is rapidly becoming a focus for scientists seeking to improve human health. Until recently, very little was known about the billions of non-human cells that populate the human gut, and even less was known about the effect these cells could have on the balance between human health and disease.

The gut microbiome is comprised of billions of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and viruses. When this complex web of gut flora falls out-of-balance, also known as dysbiosis, numerous negative health impacts can occur. The extent to which gut dysbiosis causes health issues is the focus of numerous on-going studies and clinical research.

Although there is still much to be learned, some ambitious and cutting edge companies have taken recent developments in microbiome research to develop their own methods to allow everyday people to test their own gut microbiomes. Companies that provide at-home microbiome testing are making these newfound discoveries accessible and available to the general public. Some of these companies include Thryve, Viome, uBioDiscovery, Day Two, gencove, nowgenome, and Biohm.

While there is still more unknown about the gut microbiome than there is currently known, major discoveries are occurring regularly and with these discoveries, microbiome testing will continue to improve.