The non-human, human cells: Human microbiome and health

We seem compact, like a single being.

Yet, that’s far from the truth.

We are a collection of trillions of little cells. Some sharing our DNA and called our own.

And some with their distinct genetic blueprints- our microbial cells - living among our human ones.

There are as many or more microbe cells in our body as human ones.

Even within a single human cell, the mitochondria, is probably a microbe.

With its distinct genome and quirky traits, it’s most likely our oldest ally. Having figured out the perfect symbiosis- it giving us energy and us giving it food and lodging - we’ve been together a long, long, time.

We’re loosing the jungle within

Centuries ago, there was a rich, diverse ecosystem within us.

One that’s being whittled to little more than a kitchen garden.

We’re loosing many of our ‘other’ cells. Strains and species of friendly flora are vanishing.

That too, at an unprecedented rate.

We’re also gaining new ones. Most of them not as friendly as our old chums.

This creates two kinds of problems

• We loose the help we were getting - in digesting some foods, producing useful metabolites, regulating our immune and endocrine systems, protecting us from diseases and much more.
• We are being directly harmed - Our newer colonisers are way more likely to cause infections, inflammation and metabolic & immune dysregulations.

Lifeline to death trap

Over the years, ‘our other cells’ have helped us navigate this world. Having been around way longer than us, they knew to guide and coach us well.

But now that they’re changing, and that too so quickly,

they could become the deadliest biohazard, living right inside us.