Ubiome Business

San Francisco Bay Area-based startup uBiome uses collaborative citizen science to engage the public in research into the human microbiome. The human microbiome refers to all of the microorganisms that inhabit the human body. These include bacteria, fungi, and other organisms living in the gastrointestinal tracts, the layers of the skin, and the oral mucosa. In fact, several trillion microbes exist within one human body. uBiome seeks to study these organisms for general research while also allowing participants to discover and explore their own microbiomes.

Citizen science refers to the practice of scientists and researchers working with the general public to share ideas and contribute to data collection. Approved for the usage of human subjects by E&I Institutional Review Board, uBiome invites eligible participants to collect samples from specific areas before mailing the sample tubes back to the company for analysis. Once uBiome completes the lab work on the samples, it notifies users and posts their results to a secure webpage that only they may access.