Skin Bugs
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We're crawling with microbes... but not where you'd think.
Finally, everything you wanted to know about bodily crevices.
Elizabeth Grice, from the National Institutes of Health, was curious about microbes. She swabbed 10 healthy human volunteers, in 20 different bodily locations. A genetic analysis revealed what microbes lived where.
Her findings?
First: hundreds more species than previously thought call us home.
Second: three main ecosystems – Damp, Oily, and In-Between – are common to everyone. Each has a unique fauna.
Third: despite what you might think, most man-crobes prefer mild and fresh environs, and avoid wet spots. Forearms had two times more species than steamy armpits.
And finally, SkinScapes changed dramatically over short distances.
Take the Buns.
The top of each cheek was like San Francisco.
Not too hot, cold, dry, or wet. Perfect for a host of crazy critters.
But the hot-and-humid lowlands between, just below the tailbone – a.k.a. the plumber's crack? Death Valley, in comparison, with barely any life.
Knowing resident body bugs could help us seek and destroy the unwanted microbes that cause diseases.
Never mind that it's kinda gross. And you're welcome.
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