Germ Research Leads to Health Discovery

The Associated Press and publications worldwide are reporting today on a major health breakthrough resulting from the research of  UNC Charlotte professor Anthony Fodor (pictured below) and his colleagues. According to an AP story, "For the first time, scientists have mapped the more than 10,000 species of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that normally live in or on healthy human bodies.They live on your skin, up your nose and in your gut – and collected together, these microbes could weigh a few pounds.

Don’t say “eeew” just yet. Many of these organisms work to keep humans healthy, and results reported Wednesday from the government’s Human Microbiome Project define what’s normal in this mysterious netherworld.

One surprise: It turns out that nearly everybody harbors low levels of some harmful types of bacteria, pathogens that are known for causing specific infections. But when a person is healthy – like the 242 U.S. adults who volunteered to be tested for the project – those bugs quietly coexist with benign or helpful microbes, perhaps kept in check by them."

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Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/14/3316464/germs-reshape-view-on-health.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

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