Gut Feeling

Lauren Hoskin explores our ever-increasing understanding of how bacteria contribute to our health

The Biologist Vol 61(1) p12-15

It is widely known that humans do not exist as single organisms. In fact, we go to bed each night with 100 trillion microbes tucked up cosily inside our intestines. What we are now beginning to discover is just how important these tiny organisms are in stimulating, training and regulating our own bodies.

The gut microbiota is a diverse community of microbes comprising mainly of bacteria but also some species of archaea and fungi. At least 90% of the bacteria in our digestive tract fall into the phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, yet species diversity is astounding. Estimates suggest there could be between 500 and 1,000 species within the whole human population...

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