We are not entirely human

Geneticistas had said in the thursday, after examining the DNA of hundreds of bacteria that inhabit the organism of the man, thatwe are not perhaps total human.

Bacteria are so important for functions as digestion and system imunológico that perhaps can be considered really simbióticos organisms - that is, that they have a relation of mutual dependence with another species -, according to article published in the edition of friday of the Science magazine.

The study of native bacteria of the human organism it can supply important tracks on illnesses, nutrition, obesidade and the functioning of medicines, in accordance with the team of the Institute of Genômica Research (TIGR, in the acronym in English), of Maryland (U.S.A.).

“We are of certain form as an amalgam, a mixture of bacteria and cells human beings. Some estimates say that 90% of the cells in our body in the truth are bacteria”, said Steven Gill, former-researcher of the TIGR and now scientist of the University of the State of New York, for telephone.

“We are total dependents of this microbiana population for our well-being. A change inside of this population, frequent taking to the absence or presence of beneficial microbes, can unchain effect in the metabolism and the development of illnesses as intestinais inflammations.”

It has much time the scientists know that at least 50% of excrements human beings they are constituted of bacteria. They start to colonize the intestine and cólon shortly after the birth, and the adults load up to 100 trillions of microbes, of more than a thousand species.

They are not alone there of hitchhiking. They help the human beings to also digest what they eat, some vitamins, sugars and staple fibres. Also they synthecize vitamins that the people by itself do not obtain to produce.

“The human beings had evolved during millions of years with these bacteria, and them they carry through essential functions”, said Gill.

The scientists sequenciaram the DNA found in excrements donated for three adults. They had discovered that great part was the genetic material of bacteria.

They had compared the genetic sequências with the ones of known bacteria and with the human genome, and had discovered that this call microbioma of cólon ¿ the addition of the genetic material of the thick intestine ¿ includes 60 a thousand genes more than, the double of the found one in the human genome.

“Of all the sequências of DNA in the material, only of 1 5% were not bacterial”, said Gill. “We are surpresos.”

They had also found a archaea number surprising, or archaebactérias, that are genetically different of the bacteria, but also are unicellular organisms, normally found in environments with extreme conditions, as thermal sources.

The givers were adult healthful, that had not taken antibiotic in the period of one year, therefore this type of medicine disturb the bacteria of the body.

Gill said that its team now intends to make a comparison with the intestinais bacteria of diverse people.

“The ideal study it would be to compare 20, 30 people of different ethnic origins, different diets, if they drink, they smoke, and so on, because I find that it will have differences notables”, affirmed Gill.

The next study, according to researcher, goes to lean over itself on the bacteria of the mouth, where it has at least 800 species.