People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid

[swestrup]

A surprising article from wired starts:

Most of the cells in your body are not your own, nor are they even human. They are bacterial. [...] we are best viewed as walking "superorganisms," highly complex conglomerations of human, fungal, bacterial and viral cells.

The surprising part is not that this is true, I would expect anyone with even a basic knowledge of biology to know this, but that scientists are only now getting around to investigating it. Have the tools for research not been heretofore available, has medicine and biology overlooked the whole human ecoshpere, or is it just another case of bad reporting? I gotta wonder.

Comments

[sps.livejournal.com]

Certainly there's a lot of bad reporting. We're well past the point where people are making themselves ill with excessive use of antibiotic (in the broad sense) products, yet the marketting and the media push continue. Concepts like disinfectant mouthwash (as a consumer product, I mean) terrify me. What on earth are people thinking? This relates exactly how to our native environment?

[swestrup]

I know, taxlady and I have a friend who is addicted to antibacterial hand soap. No amount of explaining about good vs. bad bacteria or mentioning what she is selecting for on her hands has had the slightest effect.

[sps.livejournal.com]

Marketing based on phobias is every bit as disturbing as marketing based on addictions....