7 Crazy Facts About The Microbiome And Gut Bacteria

Whilst we?can’t see them with the naked eye, humans play host to?trillions of?microbes in?and on?their bodies, collectively known as?the microbiome.

The largest and most important community of?microbes resides in?the human gut, but there is?also an?oral, skin and vaginal microbiome.

The gut microbiome comprises multiple microorganisms, including eukaryotes, archaea, fungi, viruses and most abundant of?all, bacteria.

Humans exist in?symbiosis with their resident bacteria, meaning that we?mutually benefit each other.

Whilst they need us?for a?space to?live, we?rely on?them to?digest resistant starches, synthesise vitamins and even train the developing immune system.

There is?still much we?don’t know about the microbiome, though it?is?clear that our gut bacteria are instrumental to?human health and represent a?new frontier in?biomedical science.

In?honour of?the upcoming World Microbiome Day, we’ve compiled a?list of?the seven craziest microbiome facts. Without further ado, let’s jump in:

The microbiome has been coined the “second genome”

The microbiome refers to?the collective genome of?all the microorganisms in?our body. It?might surprise you to?learn that bacterial genes dwarf our human genome, numbering in?the millions compared to?our measly 20,000.

Each of?these bacterial genes programs for a?specific function, many of?which benefit humans and patch up?gaps within our genome.

For example, our human genes struggle to?digest certain indigestible fibres, but our gut bacteria have just the tools for the job and fill in?for our human enzymes.

Researchers call the microbiome our “second genome”, as?its genes complement and augment our human ones.

The “second genome” opens up?a?new frontier in?health research and is?the subject of?numerous ongoing studies, such as?the Human Microbiome Project (HMP).

The HMP is?an?ongoing American initiative seeking to?collect a?diverse database of?microbiome samples.

Similar to?the Human Genome Project, the landmark enterprise seeks to?help researchers identify microbial markers of?health and disease for therapeutic application.

Our microbiome is?as?unique as?a?fingerprint

While we?share around 99.9% of?our DNA with other humans, our microbiomes can be?vastly different, sharing as?little as?10% similarity!

Take the?Macfarlane twins, founders of?Gut Stuff- despite being genetically identical, their microbiomes are only 40% similar!

Emerging research suggests that our microbiome profiles may be?used to?identify us, acting as?a?microbial fingerprinting system.

In?one study, 80% of?subjects remained identifiable within a?year of?having their gut microbiome sampled, although microbial skin trails?were shown to?be?far less accurate and stable.

The technique is?unlikely to?be?adopted for forensic application, mainly because the microbiome is?subject to?change, and it’s unlikely someone would leave their intestinal microbes at?a?crime scene. However, this didn’t stop CSI Miami from featuring the hypothetical technique in?an?episode.

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