ells.

The Human Microbiome Project
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Little is known about the communities of microbial cells that inhabit healthy human bodies. The Human Microbiome Project aims to study these cells and their role in human health and disease. New DNA sequencing technologies have created a field of research, called metagenomics, that allows the comprehensive study of microbial communities, even those composed of organisms that cannot be cultivated experimentally. Instead of examining the genome of an individual bacterial strain that has been grown in a laboratory, the metagenomic approach allows analysis of genetic material derived from complete microbial communities harvested from natural environments. In the human microbiome project, this method will complement genetic analyses of known isolated strains, providing unprecedented information about the complexity of human microbial communities.

Epigenomics
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Epigenetics involves the study of changes in the regulation of gene activity and expression that are not dependent on gene sequence. Epigenomics is the global analyses of epigenetic changes across the entire genome. The NIH Roadmap epigenomics program is based on the hypothesis that the origins of health and susceptibility to disease are, in part, the result of epigenetic regulation of the genetic blueprint. In particular, this hypothesis suggests that epigenetic mechanisms that control stem cell differentiation and organ formation contribute to the biological response to endogenous and exogenous forms of stimuli that result in disease. The epigenomics program aims to develop comprehensive reference epigenome maps and new technologies for comprehensive epigenomic analyses.

Research Teams of the Future
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The following initiatives within this theme are designed to encourage scientists and scientific institutions to test a variety of models for conducting research.

High-Risk Research
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The NIH Director's Pioneer Award program is designed to 