These Genes Determine Your Health: And They're Not Yours
The genes belong to bacteria living in your gut. They, along with their fellow microbes in and on "your" body outnumber human cells 10 to 1. But their genes collectively outnumber yours 150 to 1. These findings are just part of what you'll find in "A Human Gut Microbial Gene Catalogue Established by Metagenomic Sequencing" published in Nature and free online.
The authors conclude that this catalogue of bacterial genes found in the human gut "will lead to a much more complete understanding of human biology than the one we presently have." I think it's fair to say that the realization that the microbes we host have so much control over our lives will lead to a revolution in how we think of ourselves and how we prevent, diagnose and treat conditions like obesity, diabetes and cancer.
