OUR CELLS ARE 90% MICROBIAL - ONLY 10% HUMAN

The reason we look human is that humans cells are bigger, that's all.   In numbers alone, microbial cells outnumber human cells nine to one.

 

E-Coli in the gut

You may think these alien-looking bacteria would be unwelcome guests, but these lifeforms actually make up 90 per cent of the living cells in our bodies.

 

As images show  the human body is home to trillions of weird and wonderful lifeforms.

 

Tube shaped e.coli use their three tails to swim vigorously up and down our guts, while salmonella which are famous for food poisoning scares live happily on our skin with no ill effects to us.

 

Our relationship with the single-celled friends is so strong that some scientist have come to regard us and our hitchhikers as one human-bacteria super-organism.

 

The human gut alone contains almost four and a half pounds of bacteria.  We are in essence only ten percent human - the rest is pure microbe.

 

This bacterial-human interaction is for the most part symbiotic. Which means in return for food and board the bacteria help with digestion, vitamin production and bolstering our innate immune system.  They protect us against infection by bad bacteria.

 

Animals that are bred to have no bacteria are far more susceptible to infection and have a reduced life expectancy compared to wild animals.

 

Eating probiotic yogurt can certainly help to bolster your good bacteria.

 

Click to see incredible images that show what the alien-esque life forms that make up 90% of our bodies actually look like
 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1388696/Alien-like-life-forms-make-90-living-cells.html

 

  

RELATED

 

Animated simulations that look like something out of a science fiction alien world - but it's all inside of you.  Truly amazing! 

See pictures of bacteria and viruses as well as other miniscule sections of human organs magnified 10 million times their real size. 
 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2335596/Photographs-reveal-alien-planet-No--breathtaking-animated-simulations-world-HUMAN-BODY.html 

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Who is in charge of your mind - you, or your parasites
How parasites affect behavior

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psychology-issues-who-is-in-charge-of.html

Common parasite may affect human behavior
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/03/156216620/common-parasite-may-influence-human-behavior

 

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More on microbes on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Microbes

 

 

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