MICROBE CELLS NOT ONLY OUTNUMBER HUMAN CELLS IN YOUR BODY TEN TO ONE, BUT THEY HELP KEEP YOU HEALTHY

MICROBIOME = the microorganisms in a particular environment (including the body or a part of the body),

Look in the mirror and you won't see your microbiome. But it's there with you from the day you are born. Over time, those bacteria, viruses and fungi multiply until they outnumber your own cells 10 to 1.

 

As babies, the microbes may teach our immune systems how to fight off bad bugs that make us sick and ignore things that aren't a threat.

 

We get our first dose of microbes from our mothers, both in the birth canal and in breast milk. Family members tend to have similar microbiomes.

 

But ultimately each person's microbiome seems to be unique, perhaps as personal as a fingerprint.

 

As the microbes colonize our bodies, they pick specialized real estate. The mouth, with all those moist nooks and crannies, is home to one of the most diverse habitats, like the Amazon jungle.

 

Diverse as these habitats are, the microbes on the various body parts communicate with each other and with our cells.

 

Scientists have started eavesdropping on those conversations, and have started testing them as possible treatments for diseases like Crohn's, multiple sclerosis and asthma.

Read more and listen to audio - http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/09/219381741/from-birth-our-microbes-become-as-personal-as-a-fingerprint

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RELATED


How microbes living in your body are keeping you healthy - Includes video
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/806374



Humans have ten times more microbial cells than human cells
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603085914.htm



The Human Microbiome Project - https://www.bcm.edu/departments/molecular-virology-and-microbiology/microbiome


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