“I love genetics,” Blaser said. “But the model that places our genes at the root of all human development is wrong. By itself, it simply cannot explain how rapidly the incidence of many diseases has risen.” He stressed that genes matter immensely, but that one must take into account more than just the twenty-three thousand genes we inherit from our parents. The passengers in our microbiome contain at least four million genes, and they work constantly on our behalf: they manufacture vitamins and patrol our guts to prevent infections; they help to form and bolster our immune systems, and digest food. Recent research suggests that bacteria may even alter our brain chemistry, thus affecting our moods and behavior. newyorker/magazine/2012/10/22/germs-are-us
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 18:41:00 +0000
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