If you think you’re only human, you’d better think again. You better throw away that antibacterial soap they told you to buy. Here is the reason why! Single-celled bacteria living in and on our bodies outnumber human cells by at least 3 to 1 — and perhaps as much as 10 to 1. The latest estimates from the American Academy of Microbiology put our bodies at 37 trillion human cells and our microbiomes — as those bugs are collectively called — at 100 trillion. Yes, that’s right, our skin and guts, mouths and noses, along with every other body surface, are home to 100,000,000,000,000 microscopic bugs. The typical human microbiome is said to represent about 1,000 different species, with wide variation from one person to the next in exactly which species. If it’s still hard to fathom just how big a single microbiome is, consider this: That same report says those microbes, each vanishingly small and seemingly weightless on its own, add up to something like 2.5 pounds. If these statistics have you reaching for the hand sanitizer, slow down. The vast majority of these bugs are no threat at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Many of them are our best friends and allies in myriad surprising ways that scientists are only now beginning to sort out. And to think that with all of those antibiotics and disinfectants we’ve been waging an all-out war. We really haven’t known microbes (or ourselves, for that matter) at all.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:07:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015