Scientists catalog zoo of bacteria inside our guts -

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Scientists catalog zoo of bacteria inside our guts

_http://news. / s/ap/20100303/ ap_on_sc/ us_sci_gut_ zoo_

(http://news. / s/ap/20100303/ ap_on_sc/ us_sci_gut_ zoo)

 

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer –

Wed Mar 3, 1:19 pm ET

 

 

 

WASHINGTON – The human gut is a virtual zoo, full of a wide variety of

bacteria, a new study found. And scientists say that's a good thing.

 

 

The first results of an international effort to catalog the millions of

non-human genes inside people found about 170 different bacteria species

thriving in the average person's digestive tract. The study also found that

people with inflammatory bowel disease had fewer distinct species inside the

gut.

 

 

The findings are being published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

 

 

More than 99 percent of the different types of genes in our bodies are not

in fact human, but come from microbes. So cataloging the genetics of

bacteria inside of us will improve vastly on the mapping of the human genome,

study co-author Jun Wang, a Chinese genomics researcher.

 

 

Bacteria " rule this planet, including our body, " study co-author Jeroen

Raes, a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany,

said in an e-mail. " I think it's important that people realize that we are

not really human — we are a walking colony of bacteria and they are crucial

for our well being and health. "

 

 

Looking at 124 adults, researchers found that most people's digestive

systems have a lot in common. At least 57 species of bacteria were present in

just about everybody. Overall, the researchers cataloged about 1,000

different bacteria species and figure there's another 150 or so they haven't

found.

 

 

Researcher Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University, who wasn't involved in

the study, called the work " remarkable and inspiring. " He said it could

lead to new understanding about human and microbial evolution. He studies the

role of gut bacteria in obesity.

 

 

Raes said medical studies usually ignore the influence of gut bacteria,

but " this blueprint will allow us to study the role of the flora in many

human diseases, such as Crohn's, diabetes, obesity and so on. "

 

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On the Net:

 

Nature: _http://www.nature.com_ (http://www.nature.com)