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The research work focuses on two diseases that are becoming increasingly important in Europe: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and obesity.
First, we need to establish a comprehensive reference catalog of microbial genes and genomes present in the human gut.
The second challenge is to develop tools to determine which genes and genomes of the reference catalog are present in different individuals and at what frequency.
Thirdly, it is necessary to collect cohorts of individuals, some sick and some healthy, and determine which genes and genomes they carry.
It is also crucial to develop bioinformatic tools to store, organize and interpret this information to establish associations between the intestinal microbiota and health and disease.