Studies of Skin Microbes in Healthy People and in People With Skin Conditions

* Skin microbiota (bacteria, fungi, viruses, phage, archae) play a significant role in common dermatological conditions, such as atopic dermatitis/AD (eczema). * Since culture-dependent methods are often biased assessments of microbial diversity, genomic methods can expand our understanding of the human microbiome and skin diseases. * Chronic dermatitis is typical among rare primary immunodeficiencies: Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome; hyper-IgE syndrome; and combined immunodeficiency associated with DOCK8 mutation syndrome. The skin disease in these monogenic disorders resembles AD, is associated with microbial infections, and may provide additional insight into microbial-host disease interactions.