Cellwise, We Are Mostly Inhuman

A prior post listed 7 assertions regarding the role of infectious organisms on the human genome. In the next few blogs we'll look at each assertion, in excerpts from Precision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human Disease. Here's the fourth:

Most of the cells residing in human bodies are nonhuman

There are about 10 times as many nonhuman cells living in our bodies as there are human cells [40]. The human intestines alone contain 40,000 different species of bacteria [9]. These 40,000 species contain about 9 million different genes. Compare that with the paltry 23,000 genes in the human genome, and we quickly see that we homo sapiens contribute very little to the genetic diversity of the human body’s ecosystem.

- Jules Berman

key words: precision medicine, commensals, symbiotes, symbiotic, host organisms, jules j berman Ph.D. M.D.