{"id":1037,"date":"2011-03-01T11:10:48","date_gmt":"2011-03-01T19:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=1037"},"modified":"2012-11-28T00:43:03","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T08:43:03","slug":"a-typical-human-gut-contains-about-100-trillion-bacterial-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/a-typical-human-gut-contains-about-100-trillion-bacterial-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"A Typical Human Gut Contains About 100 Trillion Bacterial Cells"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Giant<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> the human gut contains about 100 trillion bacterial cells, about 10 times as many cells as make up the human body.<\/p>\n

The human gut is basically sterile until you are born.\u00a0 For the first year of your life, the cultures of bacteria and other microbes in your gut fluctuate wildly and begin settling down around the time you start weaning.<\/p>\n

A recent study published in the journal, Nature, which included scientists from Germany, Brussells, Beijing, Denmark, Spain, France and the UK, set out to catalog all of the microbes in a typical human gut, which they did successfully, managing to decode all the microbial genes found there.<\/p>\n

Given that we are so incredibly dependent on these microbes for our bodies to function properly, this research could very quickly lead to significant advancements in various medical fields, including how we treat and recognize a variety of ailments.\u00a0 As Dr Jerome Raes, a researcher who was part of the study said, “We have no clue as to how the gut works because this is a very complex ecosystem.\u00a0 We really don’t know how that ecosystem works even though it is crucial for our well being.\u00a0 We don’t know how food is digested and which species do what.” “We’ve basically sequenced all of their (the subjects) genomes at once. It was a huge effort because it’s basically the biggest sequencing exercise anyone has done so far \u2013 it’s about 200 times the sequencing effort of the human genome project,” he said.<\/p>\n

The team analyzed fecal matter from 124 Europeans.\u00a0 Surprisingly, and going against less detailed research in the past, the researchers discovered that, despite the diversity of subjects, they shared more or less the same types of bacteria in their guts.\u00a0 They also found an amazing number of previously unknown microbes.<\/p>\n

\"Gut<\/a>“A lot of things we found were new… whenever you go fishing for microbial diversity you find thousands of novel species because the microbial world is vastly uncharted,” Dr Raes said.<\/p>\n

“In the future, we should be able to modify the (microbial) flora to optimize health and well being,” he said.\u00a0 “This also opens up the possibility of prevention through diet, and treatments tailored a person’s genetic and microbial profile.”<\/p>\n

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Bonus<\/span> Facts:<\/p>\n