I, microbe: Sequencing the bugs in our bodies
20 May 2010 by Caitlin Stier
People are more microbe than human, with microbes outnumbering our cellsby 10 to 1. But strangely, scientists know more about the microbes that inhabit the soil and sea than those that call us home. Now, the genetic sequencing of 178 of these microbes will help close that gap.
Scientists have long known that our microbial inhabitants, collectively known as the microbiome, can contribute to disease. But culturing the cells outside of the human body can be difficult, complicating efforts to identify many of them, particularly rare species.
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