The Microbiome and its Impact on Disease in the Preterm Patient

Emerging technologies derived largely from the Human Genome Project are applied to evaluating the intestinal microbiota in preterm infants. The microbial ecology of the developing intestine is highly related to health and disease, and new discoveries are emerging that will help us understand disorders in the development of the intestinal microbial ecosystem and how to eventually manipulate them to prevent diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis and late onset sepsis. Here, a brief overview of the developing microbiome as it pertains to several aspects of health and disease in the preterm infant is presented.