Microscopic wars decide your future
→ BATTLEGROUND
→ THE BATTLE
→ CAPTURE OF POWER
How many genes does a human have? Usually the number is estimated at around 20,000. But in 2019, biologist Braden Tierney from Harvard University suggested a different number – at least 232 million. He reached this figure, some 10,000 times higher, because he also counted the genes of the trillions of bacteria that exist in our bodies. And he had good reason to do so. Tierney and his colleagues have discovered that the bacteria’s genes are not only important to our health, they can be more important than our own genes.
Tierney’s research reveals that the makeup of bacteria in your body influences your risk of developing specific diseases more than your own DNA – and scientists are now close to understanding what determines their composition in individual people. And the answer is an intense territorial war.
The microbes in your interior are armed with powerful weapons that can eliminate their competitors. Bacteria poison, strangle, and spike their neighbours, then the victors determine whether you will avoid barber’s itch or develop diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Scientists have been watching, and are now joining the battle, identifying tactics that could eliminate your body’s worst enemies.
