The document summarizes Dr. Larry Smarr's talk on using data analytics to analyze the human microbiome. Some key points:
- Next-generation sequencing and supercomputing are used to map the microbiomes of hundreds of people to analyze bacterial species abundance in health and diseases like IBD.
- Analysis with Dell Analytics and Ayasdi reveals major differences in bacterial phyla and protein families between healthy and disease states that can be used to noninvasively diagnose disease. Certain species are found at much higher or lower levels in disease states.
- Continued microbiome profiling and topological data analysis may help discover new diagnostic biomarkers for disease states and track disease progression.