What do we hope to accomplish?
Longer answer: One goal of the study is to examine many samples over time from each participant, to reveal the temporal dynamics of the gut microbiota during perturbed and unperturbed intervals. We want to do this with many different people, enough so that we can categorize, compare and contrast the temporal patterns we find. (Prior studies have either taken one or a few samples from many people, or taken multiple samples over time from just a few people.) A second goal is to generate complete datasets across all the samples from all the analytical approaches we will use, which maximizes the ability of statistical tools to identify genuine associations between particular microbes, genes, and chemical transformations. (Prior studies have tended to use 16S rRNA surveys alone, or apply the more advanced methods to only a small subset of samples.) A third goal is to search for factors (whether aspects of the microbiota itself or elements of the participants’ health, history or lifestyle) that explain the differences in temporal patterns across individuals. In particular we will look for predictors of stability and resilience in the composition and activity of the gut microbiota.
Click here for the very long answer.
Click here for the very long answer.