Bacteria living symbiotically inside human bodies may have an unexpectedly profound and wide ranging effect on basic biological functions such as development, reproduction and immunity.
In a comparison of blood from germ-free and regular mice, researchers found large differences in molecules that affect just about everything involved in living.
The human body contains 10 times more bacteria than human cells, with 50 trillion microbes living in the average digestive tract alone. The study of these internal bacteria is in its infancy: the Human Microbiome Project, launched to catalogue our bodies' bacterial inhabitants, started last October.
All these microbes are not just along for the ride, say scientists, but have co-evolved with human beings, providing important biochemical services in exchange for their home. Imbalances in gut bacteria have already been linked to obesity, cancer, asthma and a host of autoimmune diseases.
In a comparison of blood from germ-free and regular mice, researchers found large differences in molecules that affect just about everything involved in living.
The human body contains 10 times more bacteria than human cells, with 50 trillion microbes living in the average digestive tract alone. The study of these internal bacteria is in its infancy: the Human Microbiome Project, launched to catalogue our bodies' bacterial inhabitants, started last October.
All these microbes are not just along for the ride, say scientists, but have co-evolved with human beings, providing important biochemical services in exchange for their home. Imbalances in gut bacteria have already been linked to obesity, cancer, asthma and a host of autoimmune diseases.
Though marketers of what are known as probiotics have had some success in using bugs to treat allergies and irritable bowel disease, the causal links between bacteria and disease remain largely unspecified.
A critical first step in figuring them out is linking bacteria to cellular processes, known broadly as metabolites. The study of metabolites is also just getting off the ground. Some are cellular byproducts, while others are physiologically critical. But though the first draft of the human metabolome — the biochemical analog of the human genome — was completed just two years ago, scientists know it's important.
In the mouse comparison study, some metabolites were found only in germ-free mice. Others were found only in regular mice. Some were found in both, but in subtly different forms. The hodgepodge of results suggests that various bacteria break down, produce or otherwise tweak biochemicals.
A critical first step in figuring them out is linking bacteria to cellular processes, known broadly as metabolites. The study of metabolites is also just getting off the ground. Some are cellular byproducts, while others are physiologically critical. But though the first draft of the human metabolome — the biochemical analog of the human genome — was completed just two years ago, scientists know it's important.
In the mouse comparison study, some metabolites were found only in germ-free mice. Others were found only in regular mice. Some were found in both, but in subtly different forms. The hodgepodge of results suggests that various bacteria break down, produce or otherwise tweak biochemicals.
The findings also suggest that gut bacteria could be involved not just in maintaining health and disease, but processing drugs — helping to explain, perhaps, why drugs affect people in different ways.
Original article here.
Original article here.
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