The Molecular Revolution in Cutaneous Biology: Investigating the Skin Microbiome

Abstract

Building upon the knowledge garnered from investigations utilizing traditional culturing methods, advances in sequencing technologies have catalyzed a revolution in studying human-associated microbes: bacteria, fungi and viruses. Skin microbiome research in healthy individuals and patients with dermatologic disorders has provided insights into the complexity and biogeography of human skin microbes. The continual developments in sequencing and analyses will provide increasingly sophisticated tools to interrogate human-associated microbes, ultimately to improve our understanding of health and disease.