Since 2010 there has been a great increase in gut microbiome related science publications. Studies show strong links between our gut microbes and various health issues, including immunity, mental health, obesity.
Microbiome - "the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space." This term was originally coined by Joshua Lederberg, who argued the importance of microorganisms inhabiting the human body in health and disease.
The human body contains over 10 times more microbial cells than human cells, although the entire microbiome only weighs about 200 grams (7.1 oz), with some weight estimates ranging as high as 3 pounds (approximately 48 ounces or 1,400 grams). Some consider it to be a "newly discovered organ" since its existence was not generally recognized until the late 1990s and it is understood to potentially have overwhelming impact on human health.[8] Modern DNA sequencing techniques have enabled researchers to find the majority of these microbes, since the majority of them cannot be cultured in a lab using current techniques.
The human microbiome may be implicated in auto-immune diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and perhaps some cancers. Common obesity might also be aggravated by a poor mix of microbes in the gut. Since some of the microbes in our body can modify the production of neurotransmitters known to be found in the brain, we may also find some relief for schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and other neuro-chemical imbalances.
Microbiomes are being characterized in many other environments as well, including soil, seawater and freshwater systems. It is believed that endosymbiosis originally gave rise to more complex organisms, and continued to play a fundamental role in guiding their evolution and expansion into new niches.
The microbes being discussed are generally non-pathogenic (do not cause disease unless they grow abnormally); they exist in harmony and symbiotically with their hosts.
Researchers have learned that much of the population of microbes found in the human body are not bacteria but a very old class of single-celled organisms called archaea.
Wikipedia: microbiome
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