The Human Microbiome (FutureLearn)

The Human Microbiome (FutureLearn)

Discover what the microbiome is, how it changes throughout your life, and the role it plays in good human health. Learn how a healthy microbiome can combat disease. The microbiome – the microbes that live within the human body – can have a huge impact on human health. As such, it’s vital to understand the complexity of the microbiome, and how it can impact on disease and wellbeing. On this course, you’ll go on a fascinating journey into the human body – down to the gut – where the ecology and roles of the human microbiome will be narrated.

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You’ll explore how your microbiome changes throughout your life, reflect on the role of food in its modulation, and explain the functions the microbiome has in the gastrointestinal tract in daily life.

What topics will you cover?

  • The human microbiome, role in human health and how it changes during life
  • How can we determine our gut microbiota
  • The role of food and lifestyle in the modulation of human gut microbiome
  • The human microbiota and prevention of diseases through microbiota-directed foods

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe how the human microbiome changes throughout the human life
  • Reflect on the role of food in the modulation of human microbiome
  • Explain the functions that human microbiome has in the gastrointestinal tract
  • Reflect on the links between human microbiome and diseases
  • Discuss the topics of the course and their relationship with daily life
  • Assess the complexity of the human microbiome communities
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