The human body is simply amazing - there’s no questioning it. But most people fail to see this beyond the macroscopic level as about 1.3% of our bodies’ masses are made of microbes alone. The amount of microorganisms that live inside our bodies outnumber our own cells by a factor of 10 to 1. What’s more is that microbial genes exert their effect on the human body about 360 times more than human genes. As crazy as it sounds, there is a vast and intricate ecosystem within you. I think it truly changes how you perceive yourself as a living being for you are not simply one living creature but also a collection of thousands of others. 

Over the past five years, scientists from about 80 institutions have been trying to unravel the mysteries of this enigmatic ecosystem and better understand these other living beings that live with us. In fact, The Human Microbiome project (HMP) have recently announced the results of investigations that give us a novel insight to the functions of these many microorganisms including fungi, viruses and bacteria. They derived their results by taking about 4,788 samples from the noses, mouths, intestines and other body parts of 240 healthy people. This $173 million dollar project has discovered that more than 10,000 species of microorganisms live within us and fascinatingly, each of us has our own unique collection!

Another baffling discovery was that each and every one of us carries pathogens - disease causing microorganisms- with us almost all the time but it is only at certain times, that these microorganisms turn deadly. Thus, the next goal of the project is to explore why these bugs suddenly become harmful and find a way to overcome them.