The human microbiome is the collection of microorganisms that include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, viruses and other one-celled organisms in and on the body. Humanmicrobe interactions play a crucial role in individual health. The microbes are both external on the skin, mouth, genitals and internal in the lungs and digestive organs.
Our gut microbiome is like our second brain. It contains tens of trillions of microorganisms, including at least 1,000 different species of known bacteria with more than three million genes (150 times more than human genes). Microbiota can, in total, weigh up to 2kg, therefore, it’s easy to see how our gut bacteria can impact on our health! The diversity among the microbiomes of two different individuals is vast compared to their human genomic variation; humans are about 99.9 per cent identical to each other in terms of their genome, but their gut microbiome can be up to 80-90 per cent different.