Just a decade or two ago, although researchers were onto it, in public discussion the bacteria that live in your body were hardly spoken about in health terms, other than something that might need to be eliminated. Now, however, we know that your bacteria and other microorganisms are as vital to your health as they are unique to you. Those microorganisms have a name: they are known as your microbiota and their collective genes are known as your microbiome. These two terms are used interchangeably in the public discussion, so for the sake of simplicity, and because a biome sounds more homey than biota, we will refer to your travelling bug community as your microbiome.
The bugs of your microbiome number in the trillions and include bacteria, fungi, archaea (single-celled organisms) and viruses. Collectively they weigh between one and two kilograms in any given person, and a lot of them live in your gut, which will be the main focus of this article. Roughly, there are 40 trillion bacterial cells in your body and yes, the internet factoid is true, that means there are more bacterial cells than human cells in you because your human cells number around 30 trillion. So, the question is not whether you are a “woman/man or a mouse?” but rather are you a “bacteria or a human?”. In fact, a more accurate answer is that you are a holobiont, an entity comprised of a host and many other species that live in or around it, which together form a distinct biological unit. So, fellow holobiont, why should you care about the microbiome that is part of you? The answer to that will become evident as we consider the many health implications of the composition of your own particular microbiome.
Your microbiome in action
This story is from the Issue190 edition of WellBeing.
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This story is from the Issue190 edition of WellBeing.
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