The human microbiome contains a community of microorganisms that include viruses. This is called the human virome, a community of both beneficial and pathogenic viruses.
The virome begins at birth and may be an equally important factor in health as the microbiome.
A new study finds that virome particles from people with IBD can cause inflammation when they are transplanted into human intestinal tissue.

While we may consider ourselves individuals, each of us is a walking community of microorganisms. In our intestinal tract, we host trillions of microbes that keep us healthy and can make us sick, collectively known as the microbiome. We also have countless microscopic lifeforms on our skin and elsewhere.

Given the attention paid to research regarding the role it plays in health and sickness, most of us have heard of the microbiome. Less known, and the subject of a new study, is the virome, a collection of viruses – some beneficial and some not — that we also host.

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