Filling the Gaps in Global Microbiome Knowledge from Latin America

The human gut microbiome is central to health, yet global knowledge remains biased toward high-income countries. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), with its exceptional cultural and dietary diversity, rapid urbanization, and dual burden of infectious and chronic diseases, is still underrepresented in public datasets. This gap limits our ability to define context-specific microbial baselines and risks the irreversible loss of unique microbial lineages shaped by traditional lifestyles. The Latinbiota Consortium was created to address this imbalance through collaborative, regionally led research. To date, more than 600 fecal samples from ten LAC countries have been sequenced, revealing both the extraordinary diversity of ancestral microbiomes and the rapid homogenization of urban communities. These findings echo global concerns about the erosion of VANISH taxa and the restructuring of microbial networks under modernization. Associated studies have extended this dataset across gradients of rurality and health, including individuals at risk of obesity who maintain primarily rural lifestyles. These efforts emphasize the importance of equity and capacity building, promoting data sovereignty and the active participation of local scientists and communities. By integrating regional leadership with global collaboration, this initiative aims to improve representation in microbiome research and preserve microbial diversity before it is lost.