Summary
Human beings have numerous microbial organisms in their intestines, but it was not until recently that scientists have understood how many. In fact, the human body carries around 395 separate species of microbes, and 60 percent of them have never been discovered before. Thus, scientists are working to understand just what these bacteria are and where they came from.
These bacteria are vital to human survival, as they aid in digestion, deactivate poisons in food, and help fight disease. Thus, scientists are hoping that these rarely studied microbes may help them discover cures for everything from illness to obesity.
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Details
One hundred trillion bacteria live in your gut - 10 microbes for every human cell in your body.
In the first comprehensive survey of this realm, Palo Alto, Calif., scientists found 395 strains of bacteria living in the intestines of healthy people.
They discovered that each person's collection of bugs was unique and varied from place to place within the gut, which is more than 30 feet long when uncoiled.
Some bacteria cling to the intestinal wall, while others hitch rides on bits of undigested food, forming colonies that researchers jokingly call "Whovilles."
Sounds gross, but it's actually a good thing, because we probably couldn't live without our microbes, said Dr. Paul Eckburg, a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine who led the research.
They're so vital for our well-being that some researchers consider them an organ of the human body - one that helps us digest food, inactivate poisons and fight disease.
The microbes, known as the intestinal flora, may also help guide the normal development of our guts.
Other scientists suggest that the genes of all those bacteria constitute a second human genome, and that we will never fully understand the workings of our bodies until we understand them, too.
Gordon said the report, published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science, is the first comprehensive inventory of a microbial community so vast that it is "mind-boggling."
In the new study they examined snippets of intestine and feces from three healthy people from Canada.
A separate
study at Washington University, reported last year, raises the intriguing possibility that intestinal bugs may help determine if a person is prone to getting fat.
The normal mice had 40 percent more body fat - an indication that their gut
microbes helped them wring more nutrition from their food.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, April 27, 2005
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