ScienceBiology microbiomemicrobes human body

Think You Alone Control Your Body? This Video Will Set You Straight

Think You Alone Control Your Body? This Video Will Set You Straight
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By 

Senior Science Editor, The Huffington Post

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When you think of yourself, you probably think of a single individual. In reality, you're a collection of human cells plus the community of microorganisms that live on and in your body.

Biologists call this community your microbiome--and it's a really, really big one.

How big? Roughly 100 trillion microorganisms are living on or in you right now. And far from being simply passive fellow travelers, these microbes do lots of work on your behalf.

Among other things, they help digest your food and keep your immune system healthy. For all the details, check out the latest episode of the YouTube video series ASAPScience above.

Want to learn more about the crazy way microbes colonize and control your body? Check out this "Talk Nerdy To Me" episode below.

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Before You Go

Bacteria As Art
Bacteria As Art(01 of18)
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Vortex Green 2Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(02 of18)
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AdditionalA colony of the chiral morphotype of the Paenibacillus dendritiformis bacteria. Note that the branches have a well defined handeddnes – hence the term chiral. The colony diameter is 7 cmEshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(03 of18)
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Bacterial dragon The same as previous but for different growth conditions (level of food and surface hardness)Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(04 of18)
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Vortex red Close look at a colony of the P. vortex bacteriaEshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(05 of18)
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Eshel Ben-JacobThese pictures belong to a series of remarkable patterns that Paenibacillus vortex and Paenibacillus dendritiformis bacteria form when grown in a Petri dish under different growth conditions. While the colors and shading are artistic additions, the image templates are actual colonies of tens of billions of these microorganisms. The colony structures form as adaptive responses to laboratory-imposed stresses that mimic hostile environments faced in nature. They illustrate the special strategies that bacteria have developed over the course of evolution, strategies that involve cooperation through communication. To develop such complex pattern the individual cells collectively manipulate the overall colony organization (composed of billions of cells) for the group benefit. (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(06 of18)
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Dendrtiformis C 2Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(07 of18)
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Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(08 of18)
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Bacteria As Art(09 of18)
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Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(10 of18)
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Bacteria As Art(11 of18)
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Bacteria As Art(12 of18)
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Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
Bacteria As Art(18 of18)
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Eshel Ben-Jacob (credit:Eshel Ben-Jacob)
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