We all carry trillions of microbes in and on our bodies but only recently have we come to appreciate their importance to our health. Humans and their microbes have co-evolved to function and survive together. We know these organisms are important warriors fighting off unhealthy invaders. What we don’t know is who is residing inside our bodies and exactly what are they doing?
Just as we have mapped the human genome we are now unraveling the human microbiome. This is a daunting job because of the incredible number of organism we carry around, estimated to be 10 times the amount of cells found in the body. Samples were taking from healthy adults and researchers began grouping and counting our inhabitants. Some interesting findings evolved. Though the sample subjects were healthy, 30% carried the drug-resistant bacteria that cause MRSA. As long as the subjects remained healthy this harmful bacteria posed little threat.
The next step will be to use our new found microbiome information to help treat diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes. In the future, changing or working with our microbes may become a way to treat some medical conditions.
