Some patients fail to respond to treatment for intestinal infections perhaps because they are lacking certain protective bacteria, found in the human gut.

Our gastrointestinal tracts are teeming with trillions of bacteria, where they make essential amino acids and vitamins, help regulate our immune systems and break down starches and proteins.

Unfortunately, the interaction of man and bacteria is a grey area for scientists, who have surprisingly little idea about this symbiotic relationship, reports the Telegraph.

Thanks to the Human Microbiome Project, all this is about to change. An ambitious research exercise funded by the US, it could have implications equal in importance to the Human Genome Project that preceded it.

The project is dedicated to sequencing the genomes, the genetic content of the 900 or so species of microbes found in our bodies that scientists have so far been able to culture in the lab.

See more