What is the human microbiome?
Q: What is the human microbiome?
A: The human microbiome (or human microbiota) is the collection of microorganisms which live on us, such as bacteria, archaea, fungi and single-celled eukaryotes.
Q: How many cells does the human body have?
A: The human body has about 100 trillion cells.
Q: What did Joshua Lederberg coin?
A: Joshua Lederberg coined the term "microbiome".
Q: What is the difference between "microbiome" and "microbiota"?
A: Generally speaking, "microbiome" refers to the collective genomes of microorganisms that live in an environmental niche while "microbiota" refers to the microorganisms themselves.
Q: Are all microbes useful for humans?
A: No, most microbes have no known effect and are just symbionts living with us. Those which are expected to be present are members of the normal flora and do not cause disease unless they grow abnormally.
Q: What is gut flora?
A: Gut flora refers to a population of microbes found in the human gut or intestines. It can include bacteria, archaea, fungi and other single-celled organisms.
Q: What are methanogens?
A: Methanogens are a type of archaea which produce methane gas and may cause flatulence.
