Multidisciplinarity in Microbiome Research: A Challenge and Opportunity to Rethink Causation, Variability, and Scale

Abstract

This essay, written by a biologist, a microbial ecologist, a biological anthropologist, and an anthropologist-historian, examines tensions and translations in microbiome research on animals in the laboratory and field. The authors trace how research questions and findings in the laboratory are extrapolated into the field and vice versa, and the shifting evidentiary standards that these research settings require. Showing how complexities of microbiomes challenge traditional standards of causation, the authors contend that these challenges require new approaches to inferences used in ecology, anthropology, and history. As social scientists incorporate investigations of microbial life into their human studies, microbiome researchers venture into field settings to develop mechanistic understandings about the functions of complex microbial communities. These efforts generate new possibilities for cross-fertilizations and inference frameworks to interpret microbiome findings. Microbiome research should integrate multiple scales, levels of variability, and other disciplinary approaches to tackle questions spanning conditions from the laboratory to the field.

A multi-disciplinary comparison of great ape gut microbiota in a central African forest and European zoo

“…One investigation of nine colobus species housed in five different zoos underscored the importance of diet on gut microbiota, but also acknowledged that uninvestigated environmental features of these zoos could also influence gut microbial composition 33 . Comparisons of gut microbiota diversity therefore require better characterization and analysis of diverse environmental and dietary conditions in which these investigations are conducted 34 .…”

Microbiome Structure and Function: A New Framework for Interpreting Data

“…This underscores the need for "multidisciplinary approaches to exploring human-microbiome interactions". [68,69] Generally speaking, "what is going on" in terms of function might be more important than "who is there" structurally -presupposing a proper understanding of different notions of function. not replace, studying these functional components directly.…”

Shifting Climates, Foods, and Diseases: The Human Microbiome through Evolution

“…[9,20,21] For instance, mammals do not possess endogenous cellulase, the enzyme required for the breakdown and digestion of dietary fiber. [27] Therefore, examining the potential role of the gut microbiome in providing nutritional support for human migration and population expansion is an exciting area of study for human evolution. [22,23] Other microbial functions, such as toxin neutralization, vitamin synthesis, and nitrogen recycling, are also important.…”

“…[24][25][26] In fact, in contrast to human genetic data, human microbiome data exhibit a functional diversity that is reminiscent of human dietary diversity. [27] Therefore, examining the potential role of the gut microbiome in providing nutritional support for human migration and population expansion is an exciting area of study for human evolution.…”