More Than Half Your Body is Not Human



Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. The rest are microscopic colonists. No matter how well you wash, nearly every nook and cranny of your body is covered in microscopic creatures. This includes bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The greatest concentration of this microscopic life is in the dark, murky depths of your oxygen-deprived bowels. In fact, you’re more microbe than you are human. While antibiotics and vaccines have been the weapons unleashed against the likes of smallpox, tuberculosis and MRSA, researchers are concerned that our assault on the bad guys has done untold damage to our good bacteria. “Over the past 50 years, we’ve done a terrific job of eliminating infectious disease, but we’ve seen an enormous increase in autoimmune disease and allergies,” said Professor Ruth Ley, Director of the Department of Microbiome Science at the Max Planck Institute. Microbial medicine is in its early stages, but some researchers think that monitoring our microbiome will soon become a daily event that provides a goldmine of information about our health.