The Human Microbiome Project approved

(via Jacques Ravel's blog) It looks like NIH approved a pilot study to have a look at human microbial populations. From the NIH roadmap :

On May 18, 2007, the IC Directors met to review and prioritize specific proposals developed by Working Groups of trans-NIH staff, led by IC Directors. Four topics were chosen to move forward as Major Roadmap Initiatives. Two of these, the Microbiome and Epigenetics Programs, were approved for immediate implementation as five year programs. (...)

* Microbiome – The goal of the proposed Human Microbiome Project is to characterize the microbial content of sites in the human body and examine whether changes in the microbiome can be related to disease.

Related posts from other blogs:
A human microbiome program? (Jonathan A. Eisen)
More on the Human Microbiome Program Workshop - Day1 (Jonathan A. Eisen)
A Human Microbiome Project? (MSB blog)