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They are everywhere!

By Tim Lundeen  Beginning Noozer
Published: 20 December 2007 12:46 pm

- Jessica Sachs writes about the intimate relationship between people and micro-organisms. Our skin has a 2-deep layer of bacteria, our mouths and gut have trillions of them; they are a constant part of our environment.

We've co-evolved with bacteria, and we need each other. Animals raised in a truly sterile environment, with no bacteria, do not thrive. Good bacteria help with food digestion, produce enzymes so we have better nutrition, and help fight off disease by crowding out disease-causing bacteria.

It looks as if we've been too successful in sterilizing our environment. Children raised on farms, where they are exposed to more bacteria while they are growing up, have a much lower rate of allergies and auto-immune diseases than children raised in cities. It looks like we need a certain amount of stimulation of our immune system by outside bacteria for it to develop optimally. Otherwise, our immune system grows up to be on a hair-trigger, ramping up too quickly and aggresively. Kids need to get dirty to grow up healthy

This is an excellent book, with a background on the science of bacteria, how they evolve and respond to our use of antibiotics, how we are now threatened by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, techniques for reducing risks from disease-causing bacteria, a survey of probiotic developments and research, and discussion about where we are headed. Well written and engaging, highly recommended.

Hat tip: Diabetes Update