The human microbiome has been implicated in a wide range of host diseases, such as heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In the last decade its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) has started to attract more interest. Since CRC is increasingly seen as a disease which is driven by environmental rather than genetic factors, the gut microbiome has been investigated as a potential driver of this disease. This talk will describe how multi-modal omic technologies are being used to investigate the interaction of the gut microbiome with this disease and explore how some microbes are being exploited as therapeutic agents.