Microbiomes

Bacteria are all around us. We often think of bacteria in a negative context with the way that it can be spread around and can make people sick. There are people who choose to research these creatures to make antidotes that make sure that they don’t have the ability to attack all human kind and kill us. But, there are good and positive bacteria that are in humans that help us to stay healthy.

There are many microorganisms that band together to fight against invaders. They make up what we call the human microbiota. Each person has their own unique group of microbiota that comes from their DNA. One of the main roles of these microbes is to program the immune system to recognize certain invaders, providing cells with the nutrients that they need to survive, and preventing the colinization of bad bacteria and viruses. The gut and intestines are filled with microbes that help with digestion.

Washington University School of Medicine have researchers that have found a species of gut bacteria that can turn harmful byproducts of food processing into less harmful byproducts. Right now, they’ve only experimented in mice and in vitro conditions. If this were to be true, then this would be a very big discovery. Today, organic, non-processed food is very expensive making it more convenient for people to eat processed food. If there is a microbe that can make these processed food less harmful, there could potentially be decrease in diseases like heart disease and diabetes.