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      Prebiotics and lactulose are commonly used to treat NAFLD enriching the Bifidobacterium abundance. Other prebiotics from the inulin‐type fructose fed to NAFLD animal models were shown to reduce the development of hepatic steatosis. These oligofructoses reduce fatty acid synthesis, promote weight loss by regulating intestinal polypeptides, reducing inflammation and proinflammatory cytokines, improving blood sugar regulation, and regulating intestinal microbiota [281, 284].

      1.4.1 Limitations in the Field

      While we have observed great strides in microbiome research, there are many more aspects that would need further investigation. Currently, most studies focus on the effects of the single nutrient and its role in modulating microbiota. However, human dietary habits are complex, where synergistic effects of nutrients might need to be further investigated. Further, a larger cohort of long‐term human microbiome studies would be needed to map and predict the shift in the microbiome. This would include the role of dietary and socio‐economic impacts on the human host [96]. Additionally, further studies linking diet and daily activities would be needed. Studies suggest higher gut Shannon index in individuals who regularly exercise and practice good dietary habits compared to sedentary individuals [285]. Thus, further research would be merited to understand better the role of microbiome, diet, and human health.

      1.4.2 Current Microbiome Project Supporting Infrastructures

Countries Supporting agencies
Australia Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial Research Organisation, National Health and Medical Research Council
Canada Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada
Europe European Commission
France Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
Gambia Medical Research Council
Germany European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Ireland Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre, University College Cork
Japan Japan Science & Technology Agency, JST, Ministry of Education, Cultures, Sports, Sciences and Technology, MEXT
Kazakhstan Nazarbayev University
Korea National Research Foundation, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB)
United States of America National Institutes of Health (NIH)
China Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

      1.4.2.1 International and Local Initiatives

       HMP [286]: The first‐phase HMP (HMP‐1) (2008–2013) is a concerted global effort that investigates samples of donors and studying the microbiome of 15–18 sites of the human body. These microbial taxonomic profiles and metagenomic sequences, described in the form of abundance, lay the foundations for the HMP‐2.

       HMP‐2: The second phase of the HMP, also known as the integrated HMP (iHMP), uses the Data Analysis and Coordination Center (DACC) platform to facilitate rapid data retrieval of metagenomic sequence and other data types of the human microbiome and human genetics.

       METAgenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract (MetaHIT): MetaHIT (2008–2012) is a European Union initiative that links 15 institutes from 8 countries, providing a multi‐disciplinary and extensive catalogue of microbiome resilience potential in the human body [287]. MetaHIT was succeeded by the Horizon2020 (2014–2020) that advances research in microbiome nutrition and host health.

       The Microsetta Initiative (TMI): TMI consolidates the global efforts of profiling the microbiome of collected human samples from across the globe, including educational outreach of microbiome sciences [288]. TMI is the human microbiome research wing of the Earth Microbiome Project.

       Million Microbiome of Humans Project (MMHP): Launched at the 14th International Conference on Genomics (ICG‐14) in 2019 [289], the MMHP is global cooperation between scientists from China, Sweden, Denmark, France, Latvia, and other countries studying microbial metagenomics research. This project aims to sequence and profiles the microbiome of one million samples isolated from the human body, to ultimately construct a complete human body microbiome map and build the world's largest human microbiome database using MGI's DNBSEQ™ metagenomic sequencing [290].

       Bioinformatic initiatives: The most prominent bioinformatic initiative is the DACC [291] that plays a crucial role in iHMP. The Global Catalogue of Metagenomics (gcMeta) is another bioinformatics platform that archives microbiome data while facilitating data standardization and analysis [55].

      Various governments and their affiliated health institutes have initiated many national‐level microbiome projects to encourage microbiome research. In Ireland, the government‐funded Metagenomics of the Elderly programme (ElderMet) investigates the relationship between diet, gut bacteria, and health status in the elderly [292]. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) launched the Canadian Microbiome Initiative (CMI) in 2014 aiming to analyze and characterize the microorganisms that colonize the human body in an effort to harness the microbiome for treatment of chronic disease [293]. In 2017, the second phase of CMI was launched, aiming to develop effective preventative and therapeutic interventions through

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