American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research | mSystems

"Using standardized protocols from the Earth Microbiome Project and sample contributions from over 10,000 citizen-scientists, together with an open research network, we compare human microbiome specimens primarily from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia to one another and to environmental samples....We also demonstrate the utility of the living data resource and cross-cohort comparison to confirm existing associations between the microbiome and psychiatric illness and to reveal the extent of microbiome change within one individual during surgery, providing a paradigm for open microbiome research and education....

A unique aspect of the AGP is the open community process of assembling the Research Network and analyzing these data, which are released immediately on data generation. Analysis details are shared through a public forum...."