We're outnumbered--but they're our friends

[urbpan]

From the November 2005 National Geographic; by Joel Achenbach


"...
Most of our cells aren't even human. If you had to count all the cells in your body, the vast majority--by a factor of ten--would be microbes.
...
Strangely enough, we don't know the identities of most of these microbes. We haven't figured out how to culture them. Instead, scientists 'grow' snippets of DNA, and have come to the conclusion that each one of us hosts somewhere between 500 and 1000 species of microbes,
...
What's clear is that the microbes are not a bunch of invaders. Rather, we co-evolved. A human body is like a complex ecosystem--a biosphere, almost.
...
[This is] a 'strategic alliance,' a symbiosis between mammals and microbes that goes back millions of years.

Comments

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

"Professor? Then how come antibiotics work?"


Seems pretty wacky for a high school teacher.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Not to mention talking apples and oranges. Virii and bacteria are two different beasties.