This book discusses the bacterial community (microbiota) of the human large bowel. Hundreds of articles about the gut microbiota authored by scientists in numerous countries have appeared in the scientific literature during the past decade. This trend seems set to continue due to major funding commitments made by the European Union (Seventh Framework) and the Human Microbiome project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (USA). High throughput technology has resulted in a plethora of data as well as advanced bioinformatics methods to attempt to cope with analysis. However, it is often difficult to perceive new concepts emerging from much of this work. In general, as is characteristic of science and other human endeavors, there is a cyclical renewal of old knowledge but in more detail. Rather than continue to only collect facts, it is time to enter a path to understanding the bowel ecosystem using the new details. This entails the derivation of new concepts as well as confirming those that were formulated long ago. It might be useful to provoke debate in scientific circles by challenging some existing perceptions. The aim, therefore, is to produce a concise, scholarly treatise about the bacterial community of the human bowel in order to provide insight and stimulus to postgraduate researchers, ingénue as well as experienced, from a perspective of an academic who has been familiar with the topic for 40 years and is still enlightened by his current research. Therefore the object is to boost thought, encourage young scientists, and stimulate the next generation of scientists to accomplish new and productive research in the
decade to come.
