August 26, 2011

Public Comment is solicited for NIH Common Fund Initiatives by September 14th, 2011. One of the proposed projects, Microbiome, Part 2, includes probiotics. Potential impact of Common Fund investment: Systems biology-derived “designer” probiotics may offer an inexpensive, holistic approach to disease prevention and treatment, although much research is necessary to realize this potential. It should be noted that probiotics have been used for decades, but systematic analyses of their efficacy and safety have not been conducted.