After reading this
article on bacteria by Gina Kolata, I was surprised to read that good bacteria
exist. I have always thought bacteria to be harmful to humans. Before reading
this article, my whole view of bacteria was that they cause inflections and
illnesses. The view presented in this article was acceptable because showed how
good bacteria are present in our microbiome.
Though, not many know about the 100 trillion
good bacteria that live in our bodies; they are vital to human life. The author
states that these good bacteria help in digesting food, making vitamins and
blocking against disease causing bacteria. There was a study conducted by the
Human Microbiome Projects to see what a normal human microbiome looks like.
Scientists took samples from 242 healthy people’s body in order to analyze the
genetic material of the bacteria. At the end of the study, the scientists found
an overwhelming amount of data. More than a thousand bacterial strains were
found in each of the persons tested. The microbes found in mircrobiome differed
from each test subject. In addition, there was also evidence of
disease-bacteria in everyone’s microbiome. The strange thing was that these disease
causing bacteria do not affect the host or infect others. The article stated
that up until recently, the microbiome was barely studied because it was hard
to know anything about them, being that they adapt so well on body surfaces and
cavities. Scientists began to appreciate the importance of microbiomes because
of recent studies. It has been found that they do not only keep us healthy,
they allow us to explain why some people are more prone/immune to certain
diseases than others. After reading this article, I found that bacteria also
play a positive role in human’s body. For example, the author pointed out that
these good bacteria help with the immune system. A good example would be the
mircobiome found in the female reproductive organ in which the bacteria
discharges a chemical that kills other bacteria which make the environment
acidic. Overall, I feel like my understanding of bacteria has strengthened.
