April 2013 Front Cover

About the Cover:
The human microbiome, or the collective microorganisms on skin and mucosal surfaces of the human body, plays an important role in influencing host metabolism, health, and disease susceptibility.
Here, Michelangelo’s David, poised in his moments before battle with the giant, Goliath, is re-imagined with a small fraction of the diverse microbes that colonize the human body. Microbiome research is an emerging field of study and has significant potential to contribute to our understanding of human health and disease. Cover illustrated by
Inessa Stanishevskaya