Your Body is Mostly Microbes?

1/29/14

    2013 was quite the year in new microbial research. There was a treasure trove of information that scientists uncovered this past year, one of those things being that we as humans are basically made up of microbes. These little guys make up over 90% of our whole, the other 10% is devoted to human cells. These microbes often work symbiotically with their hosts in order to benefit both parties. Scientists also discovered that everyone is unique in what microbe mix they contain. There are many factors that make them different from each other such as diet and environmental variations. There is also research on why sick people, or those with weaker immune systems get sick so often. It's due to an increased level fungus/bacteria found on the skin. More studies showed that gut microbes can be directly linked to autism, mice with different mixes of gut microbes than that of regular mice showed signs of autism. All these discoveries and more are what 2013 had is store for scientists, and that is wonderful information. All these messages linked together perfectly and provided tons of new information for the masses to know about this research. It is also nice to know that we have mostly nice microbes that live on us rather than bad, I've always had the impression that most of them were bad little guys my entire life. Some questions that I had for the author were mostly that of "Did scientists find anything else out?" "Are there microbes we didn't even know existed that we are now finding under the microscope?" Only time will tell if we find out more information. Lets hope that 2014 brings a lot more new discoveries about the tiniest members of society.

Picture: http://www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/themed/sgm/img/modules-inline/3.3_disease.jpg

Benevolent Dog Dust - Can it support Infant Health?

  Some new research claims that "dog dust" or particles and microbes found on dogs after they have been outside, are starting to show benefits to babies in the household. Why? Simple, within this dog dust there are common allergens and particles that get into babies' immune systems and help out in later years when faced with allergens such as grass and dust mites through being exposed to them in previous situations. Studies have also shown that the dog dust helps bring in microbes that are commonly found in the gut of many mammals. This particular microbe is called the Lactobacillus Johnsoni, which protects against pneumonia in babies. This dust also helps in the long run because children who are exposed to "less than sanitary"
conditions such as day cares or farm life have a much better immune system growing up and are less susceptible to allergies and things like asthma later on in life.
      This author seems to be quite positive of the benefits this dust can have on infants in homes with dogs. Some points the author makes are that they are just now discovering this as we speak, so what if it has negative effects as well as positive ones? They claim that the chances of developing asthma and allergies later on in life is lessened due to the exposure to certain particles. What if it does not have anything to do with these particles at all? What if children just naturally develop these on their own? This new found discovery is supposed to be wonderful, but further research definitely should be done to back up the claim. I understand that being exposed to what is seen as "less than sanitary" conditions is supposed to boost up your immunity as a child and carries on into your adult life. After all, you are being exposed to millions of viruses and germs in those situations which makes it better for you in the long run when exposed to them again. I definitely think the author has a good point in this discovery. Especially throwing in legitimate names of microbes that help fight off certain illnesses such as pneumonia in babies. Also that when dogs bring the outside into a home that everything the dog was exposed to floats around in the air. Who knows what Fido could have drug in? Maybe it is quite beneficial to your household members. This is useful information to know when you begin to start new families. When your child asks "Mommy/Daddy can we get a dog, PLEASE?" Think of their health!

Lactobacillus Johnsoni

Credit: 

Article: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.libproxy.unm.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=9b1e681a-a0cf-4818-a6f7-f0466a140a57%40sessionmgr4001&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=93648353

Picture: http://news.ifr.ac.uk/2013/03/poultry-probiotic/

chicken nuggets

This course is split up into two different subjects that merge together into one whole. These subjects are microbial ecology, the study of microbes in their habitats, and English the study of our own language. I chose this course because I was interested in how those two subjects could be brought together in harmony. It also seemed really interesting to me.

'

http://www.illustrationsof.com/royalty-free-rf-microbe-clipart-illustration-by-lineartestpilot-stock-sample-1185189.jpg