The microbiome is "the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space". The term was originally coined by Joshua Lederberg. He thought the microorganisms living in the human body in health and disease were important. Many scientific articles distinguish "microbiome" and "microbiota" to describe either the collective genomes of the microorganisms that live in an environmental niche or the microorganisms themselves, respectively. However, by the original definitions these terms are largely synonymous. 