This is kind of freaky:

More than half of your body is not human, say scientists.
Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. The rest are microscopic colonists.
“They are essential to your health,” says Prof Ruth Ley, the director of the department of microbiome science at the Max Planck Institute, “your body isn’t just you”.
No matter how well you wash, nearly every nook and cranny of your body is covered in microscopic creatures.
This includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea (organisms originally misclassified as bacteria). The greatest concentration of this microscopic life is in the dark murky depths of our oxygen-deprived bowels.

More here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43674270

“Team Effort”

Oh, look, the mouseover works too!

:)

https://xkcd.com/1543/

Bacteria found in the small intestines of mice and humans can travel to other organs and trigger an autoimmune response, according to a new Yale study. The researchers also found that the autoimmune reaction can be suppressed with an antibiotic or vaccine designed to target the bacteria, they said.

The findings, published in Science, suggest promising new approaches for treating chronic autoimmune conditions, including systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, the researchers said.

Gut bacteria have been linked to a range of diseases, including autoimmune conditions characterized by immune system attack of healthy tissue. To shed light on this link, a Yale research team focused on Enterococcus gallinarum, a bacterium they discovered is able to spontaneously “translocate” outside of the gut to lymph nodes, the liver, and spleen.

In models of genetically susceptible mice, the researchers observed that in tissues outside the gut, E. gallinarum initiated the production of auto-antibodies and inflammation — hallmarks of the autoimmune response. They confirmed the same mechanism of inflammation in cultured liver cells of healthy people, and the presence of this bacterium in livers of patients with autoimmune disease.

Through further experiments, the research team found that they could suppress autoimmunity in mice with an antibiotic or a vaccine aimed at E. gallinarum. With either approach, the researchers were able to suppress growth of the bacterium in the tissues and blunt its effects on the immune system.

“When we blocked the pathway leading to inflammation, we could reverse the effect of this bug on autoimmunity,” said senior author Martin Kriegel, M.D.

“The vaccine against E. gallinarum was a specific approach, as vaccinations against other bacteria we investigated did not prevent mortality and autoimmunity,” he noted. The vaccine was delivered through injection in muscle to avoid targeting other bacteria that reside in the gut.

While Kriegel and his colleagues plan further research on E. gallinarum and its mechanisms, the findings have relevance for systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, they said.

“Treatment with an antibiotic and other approaches such as vaccination are promising ways to improve the lives of patients with autoimmune disease,” he said.

I’m just glad that i’m not Mor Ethan.

Cymek said:

Bacteria found in the small intestines of mice and humans can travel to other organs and trigger an autoimmune response, according to a new Yale study. The researchers also found that the autoimmune reaction can be suppressed with an antibiotic or vaccine designed to target the bacteria, they said.

The findings, published in Science, suggest promising new approaches for treating chronic autoimmune conditions, including systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, the researchers said.

Gut bacteria have been linked to a range of diseases, including autoimmune conditions characterized by immune system attack of healthy tissue. To shed light on this link, a Yale research team focused on Enterococcus gallinarum, a bacterium they discovered is able to spontaneously “translocate” outside of the gut to lymph nodes, the liver, and spleen.

In models of genetically susceptible mice, the researchers observed that in tissues outside the gut, E. gallinarum initiated the production of auto-antibodies and inflammation — hallmarks of the autoimmune response. They confirmed the same mechanism of inflammation in cultured liver cells of healthy people, and the presence of this bacterium in livers of patients with autoimmune disease.

Through further experiments, the research team found that they could suppress autoimmunity in mice with an antibiotic or a vaccine aimed at E. gallinarum. With either approach, the researchers were able to suppress growth of the bacterium in the tissues and blunt its effects on the immune system.

“When we blocked the pathway leading to inflammation, we could reverse the effect of this bug on autoimmunity,” said senior author Martin Kriegel, M.D.

“The vaccine against E. gallinarum was a specific approach, as vaccinations against other bacteria we investigated did not prevent mortality and autoimmunity,” he noted. The vaccine was delivered through injection in muscle to avoid targeting other bacteria that reside in the gut.

While Kriegel and his colleagues plan further research on E. gallinarum and its mechanisms, the findings have relevance for systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, they said.

“Treatment with an antibiotic and other approaches such as vaccination are promising ways to improve the lives of patients with autoimmune disease,” he said.

We are learning all the time.

funny in’t being not only an organism, but in a more general way organic.

biology, the anarchist. Who’d have thought’t.

captain_spalding said:

I’m just glad that i’m not Mor Ethan.

Yeah he was a minor character in the new Star Wars movie that got randomly killed

captain_spalding said:

I’m just glad that i’m not Mor Ethan.

I thought it was a typo for Mr Ethan. I nearly said….Who?

kii said:

captain_spalding said:

I’m just glad that i’m not Mor Ethan.

I thought it was a typo for Mr Ethan. I nearly said….Who?

I shouldn’t throw stones – i live in the same typographical glass house.

captain_spalding said:

kii said:

captain_spalding said:

I’m just glad that i’m not Mor Ethan.

I thought it was a typo for Mr Ethan. I nearly said….Who?

I shouldn’t throw stones – i live in the same typographical glass house.

meh….people think my name is a spelling mistake and they squint at mr kii’s last name and throw up a bit in their mouths.

Note that no more than a tiny fraction of these bacteria are inside your body. They are inside your shit.

Phoaw, Ladies Bowles.

Sorry.

mollwollfumble said:

Note that no more than a tiny fraction of these bacteria are inside your body. They are inside your shit.

Depends how you want to define “body”.

A plumber once told me “shit got no brains”

phtt.. plumbers

mollwollfumble said:

Note that no more than a tiny fraction of these bacteria are inside your body. They are inside your shit.

or walking on your skin.