Microbiome analysis

What happens

A stool sample sequenced by 16S rRNA profiling or shotgun metagenomics to describe which bacteria are present and in what proportion.

How to read the result

Diversity metrics and specific pathogen detection are the parts that hold up. Metagenomic sequencing gives more species-level and functional detail than 16S profiling.

Where it stops

There is no validated definition of a healthy microbiome, results shift with recent diet and antibiotics, and reports differ substantially between vendors for the same sample. Supplement recommendations generated from these reports are commercially motivated more often than evidence-based.