The Human Microbiome Project (HMP), funded as an initiative of the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov), is a multi-component community resource. The goals of the HMP are: (1) to take advantage of new, high-throughput technologies to characterize the human microbiome more fully by studying samples from multiple body sites from each of at least 250 “normal” volunteers; (2) to determine whether there are associations between changes in the microbiome and health/disease by studying several different medical conditions; and (3) to provide both a standardized data resource and new technological approaches to enable such studies to be undertaken broadly in the scientific community. The ethical, legal, and social implications of such research are being systematically studied as well. The ultimate objective of the HMP is to demonstrate that there are opportunities to improve human health through monitoring or manipulation of the human microbiome. The history and implementation of this new program are described here.

More than 70% of alcohol is consumed by 10% of the population in the United States. Implicit in this statistic is that tremendous variation in the pattern of drinking (quantity, frequency, and duration) exists among alcohol consumers. Individuals who are binge or chronic drinkers will have different health outcomes than social drinkers. Therefore, knowing the pattern of drinking will shed light on how severely individuals are alcohol-dependent and on the extent of liver damage. Thus, these parameters assume particular relevance for the treatment-providing physician. Genetic factors contribute substantially to differences in alcohol metabolism. Variations in the activities of the alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase and mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase, in part determine blood alcohol concentration, thereby contributing to the predisposition to becoming alcohol-dependent and to susceptibility to alcohol-induced liver damage. Chronic alcohol consumption induces cytochrome P450 2E1, a microsomal enzyme that metabolizes alcohol at high concentrations and also metabolizes medications such as acetaminophen and protease inhibitors. Alcohol metabolism changes the redox state of the liver, which leads to alterations in hepatic lipid, carbohydrate, protein, lactate, and uric acid metabolism. The quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption severely impact the liver in the presence of comorbid conditions such as infection with hepatitis B or C and/or human immunodeficiency virus, type 2 diabetes, hemochromatosis, or obesity and thus have implications with respect to the extent of injury and response to medications. Conclusion: Knowledge of the relationships between the quantity, frequency, and patterns of drinking and alcoholic liver disease is limited. A better understanding of these relationships will guide hepatologists in managing alcoholic liver disease.

In support of the 2005 update of the U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism was asked to assess the strength of the evidence related to health risks and potential benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, with particular focus on the areas of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, obesity, birth defects, breastfeeding, and aging. The findings were reviewed by external researchers with extensive research backgrounds on the consequences and benefits of alcohol consumption. This report now serves as the National Institutes of Health's formal position paper on the health risks and potential benefits of moderate alcohol use.