mGem: Tapping into the language of symbiosis to advance human microbiome research.

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in mBio, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Gina R Lewin *Center for Global Health and Diseases, Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1189-6696

Lily Khadempour *Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, Newark, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7043-3720

Funding

Defining the role of single-cell heterogeneity in bacterial vaginosisDP2AI184733 · NIAID · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI Gina Lewin · 2024 to 2026

$1.4M

An Atlas of Bacterial Physiology in the Human Oral CavityR03DE035522 · NIDCR · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI Gina Lewin · 2026 to 2026

$340k

National Science Foundation BRC-BIO 2312984NIAID NIH HHS DP2 AI184733NIDCR NIH HHS R03 DE035522

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In human microbiome research, the term "commensal" is often used to describe organisms that benefit their hosts. In ecology, in host-microbe symbiosis, a commensal organism has no impact on its host, whereas a mutualist organism benefits its host. While others have recognized this discrepancy in terminology use, old habits are hard to break, and the human microbiome community has continued in this vein. This is our call to action for the human microbiome community to use more precise terminology that appropriately reflects the impact that these microbes have on their hosts. We should use the terms "commensal" and "mutualist" when we know the effect on the host, and "symbiont" when we do not. By using the same terminology as ecologists, we will be able to make use of, and contribute to the vast research in the field of symbiosis.

Indexed as

Host Microbial InteractionsMicrobiotaSymbiosisTerminology as TopicAnimalsHumanscommensalmicrobe-host interactionsmutualistparasitepathogensymbiont

Identifiers

PMID42262083

DOI10.1128/mbio.03661-25

PMCPMC13343959

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.