Your test results and journal entries are yours, full stop. They're stored encrypted at rest and in transit. We never sell individual-level data. We never share your data with advertisers or anyone outside our team without your explicit consent. You can export everything in CSV or JSON whenever you want. You can delete your account and all associated data permanently in two clicks. Contributing to the optional research commons is a separate choice you can make and revoke at any time.

Yes. Atlas is open. You can create a free account and start using it today. Upload the microbiome tests you already have, keep a journal alongside them, drill into any bacterium in your results, and read the ongoing research dispatches. It's early software and we're improving it continuously, so you may see rough edges; your feedback genuinely shapes what we build next.

Atlas keeps you current on microbiome science without the homework. On a regular schedule, it gathers recent research from sources like PubMed, Europe PMC, and preprint servers and turns it into a clear, plain-language report: structured, sourced, and honest about what's still uncertain. You get a new report on a cadence we set (for example, monthly), and you can read every past report in your account. The reports are drafted with AI assistance from the cited papers; they're educational, not medical advice, and AI can make mistakes, so verify anything important against the sources we cite.

No. The reports are written only from public scientific literature and are the same for every reader. Your account, your uploaded test data, and your journal are never sent to the AI system that writes them. The reports keep you informed about the field. They are not a personalized analysis of your results.

Create a free account, and you're in. You can start reading the research reports right away. When you're ready, upload a microbiome test you already have to see your taxa charted over time, and keep a journal of diet, symptoms, or medications alongside it. You don't need a test to begin. The research reports are available to everyone.

The commons is a live, anonymized dataset that grows with every member. To help it grow, your data is included at an aggregate level by default, and you can change what is shared or turn it off entirely in your account at any time. Aggregate figures are shown only above a minimum sample size and always with confidence intervals, never as bare estimates, and we never sell individual-level data. You can see the current state of the commons on the commons page.

Late 2026. We're partnering with a CLIA-certified lab to offer affordable at-home test kits that process saliva samples. Results flow directly into your Atlas account, with the same plain-language summaries and longitudinal tracking as tests from other sources. The goal is to make microbiome testing accessible to more people at significantly lower cost than current commercial options.

Right now, nothing. Atlas is free to use. We may later introduce an optional Supporter membership to help cover infrastructure costs for a non-profit, but core features will stay free, and any paid tier will be a way to support the project, never a paywall around your own data.

Never. Individual-level data is not for sale to anyone, for any reason. This is a foundational commitment we will not break. The opt-in research commons contains anonymized data that researchers can access on transparent terms, governed by a public protocol. No individual-level data ever leaves our systems for commercial purposes.

Atlas won't diagnose anything. It won't grade your gut on a 0–100 scale. It won't recommend supplements, diets, or protocols based on your data. It won't run ads, sell you products, or use engagement metrics to keep you in the app. It won't tell you what to do with your data. We leave that to you. These commitments are foundational to what Atlas is, and they're written into our policies.

Atlas is not a medical device and does not require FDA approval. It operates under the FDA's general wellness safe harbor and the 21st Century Cures Act software exemptions, both of which apply to descriptive, educational, non-diagnostic tools. We've consulted with healthcare attorneys to ensure full compliance.

Atlas supports a small number of major consumer microbiome testing companies whose data export formats are clean and well-documented, and we're expanding support as we validate more parsers against real user files. If your testing company isn't supported yet, create an account and contact us. Your input on which companies to prioritize is welcome, and we'll let you know when yours is added.

The Source Biome Project is a 501(c)(3) community-funded nonprofit organization. We're a small team of scientists, engineers, and people who've been frustrated with consumer microbiome testing for years. We're not venture-backed and we're not chasing growth at any cost. Funding comes from grants, community donations, and (post-beta) optional Supporter memberships. We'll introduce ourselves properly as the project opens up.

Several ways. Contribute code: Atlas, the parsers, and the hardware designs will all be open. Help design a kit: if you run a lab or work in diagnostics, we'd love to talk. Donate: every dollar to the project is accounted for in public via Open Collective. Or just tell someone. Nothing beats a recommendation from someone they trust.