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Graphic depicting the human skin microbiota, with relative prevalences of various classes of bacteria. The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within human tissues and biofluids along with the corresponding anatomical sites in which they reside, [1] [2] including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, mammary glands, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian follicles, lung ...
The oral microbiota consists of all the microorganisms that exist in the mouth. It is the second largest of the human body and made of various bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. [14] These organisms play an important role in oral and overall health. Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to view these organisms using a microscope he created ...
Human interactions with microbes include both practical and symbolic uses of microbes, and negative interactions in the form of human, domestic animal, and crop diseases. Practical use of microbes began in ancient times with fermentation in food processing ; bread , beer and wine have been produced by yeasts from the dawn of civilisation, such ...
Some microorganisms that colonize humans are commensal, meaning they co-exist without harming or benefiting humans; others have a mutualistic relationship with their human hosts. [118]: 700 [120] Conversely, some non-pathogenic microorganisms can harm human hosts via the metabolites they produce, like trimethylamine, which the human body ...
The Human Microbiome Project launched in 2008 was a United States National Institutes of Health initiative to identify and characterize microorganisms found in both healthy and diseased humans. [85] The five-year project, best characterized as a feasibility study with a budget of $115 million, tested how changes in the human microbiome are ...
Microbes are important in human culture and health in many ways, serving to ferment foods and treat sewage, and to produce fuel, enzymes, and other bioactive compounds. Microbes are essential tools in biology as model organisms and have been put to use in biological warfare and bioterrorism. Microbes are a vital component of fertile soil.
The project was designed with the aim of countering that misconception that bacteria are always harmful to humans [20] and that humans are at war with bacteria. [21] In actuality, most strains of bacteria are harmless [13] if not beneficial for the human body. [22] Another of the project's goals is to foster public interest in microbiology. [17]
While some people have fear of microbes due to the association of some microbes with various human diseases, many microbes are also responsible for numerous beneficial processes such as industrial fermentation (e.g. the production of alcohol, vinegar and dairy products), antibiotic production can act as molecular vehicles to transfer DNA to ...