The Them In Us

My native inclination this time each year is to turn my attention from matters purely medical, and dwell somewhat preferentially on the humanistic: peace on earth, good will toward men (and women), and all that. ‘Tis the season for it, after all; the season of light and nativity, generosity and hope.But I find all of that a bit harder this year, for it is also the season of our particular discontent, political and otherwise. Wherever we reside on any given spectrum of party, preference, or ideology, the rifts between us are on painful display. We are a house, a nation, and even a world much divided.Struggling, then, to make my customary case for solidarity among the crowds of us, I turn this year to the solidarity among the crowd within each of us for some help. I mean our microbiome, and the particular goad to make that the focus of this homily is a recent commentary in JAMA, reflecting on the potential importance of those bacteria, and their genes, to the risk for, and management of, rampant obesity and diabetes.The microbiome, as you likely know, refers to the vast village within, necessary indeed not only to raise a human child, but to sustain a human adult. Trillions of bacteria inhabit every one of us, and it is doubtful we could live at all were it not so. The exact numbers are a topic of some controversy, as is the margin by which our bacteria outnumber our cells; but that they do outnumber our cells is established. The human component of every human is someth...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news