New methods and technologies within the field of lung biology are beginning to shed new
light into the microbial world of the respiratory tract. Long considered to be a sterile …

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease affecting more than 300 million people
worldwide. Clinical features of asthma and its immunological and molecular etiology vary …

The healthy lung was long thought of as sterile, but recent advances using molecular
sequencing approaches have detected bacteria at low levels. Healthy lung bacteria largely …

All animals studied to date are associated with symbiotic communities of microorganisms.
These animal microbiotas often play important roles in normal physiological function and …

The respiratory tract is a complex organ system that is responsible for the exchange of
oxygen and carbon dioxide. The human respiratory tract spans from the nostrils to the lung …

The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is currently ongoing. It is
caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A high …

Although the notion that “the normal lung is free from bacteria” remains common in
textbooks, it is virtually always stated without citation or argument. The lungs are constantly …

Background Recent studies have suggested that bacteria associated with the placenta—a
“placental microbiome”—may be important in reproductive health and disease. However, a …

Host–microorganism interactions shape local cell functionality, immune responses, and can
influence disease development. Evidence indicates that the impact of host–microbe …

Background Historically, the human womb has been thought to be sterile in healthy
pregnancies, but this idea has been challenged by recent studies using DNA sequence …