The human body is co-inhabited by over a trillion microorganisms, including > 2000 species of bacteria, archaea, viruses, and single-celled eukaryotes that live symbiotically with their hosts. The gut microbiota is a dynamic and complex ecological community in the gastrointestinal tract, an essentially anaerobic environment with abundant nutrients and ideal conditions for colonization; it acts as a virtual endocrine system that communicates with organs through metabolism-dependent pathways, releasing de novo products and transforming external nutrients and host metabolites into hormone-like […]