Whose body is yours, anyway? Factoid

Started by Seze Mune, March 13, 2012, 01:14:11 PM

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Seze Mune

There are at least 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than there are human cells. Consider the implications:

    Maybe you are not what you see in the mirror.

    Your consciousness may be the real hitchhiker here, riding the body the way a maktoyu rides his ikran.

    Some of that extra weight you may be carrying isn't 'yours'...

    Something else really IS taking your lunch and eating it too - which is probably good for you!

Anyway,  you are inhabited by several communities of microbes.  Collectively, y'all are what's known as a biome, a symbiotic system of living things dependent on one another for existence.

What's living within you affects how you digest, how you smell things and even your immune system.  Other studies have suggested that your appeal as a mate may be affected by what has colonized you. Evolutionary biologists now think that the microbiome of an organism is so important that it can no longer be seen as separate from its symbiotic bacteria, making the composite what's known as a single "hologenome".  Ultimately, they suggest, the bacteria are so important to the living system that they probably had a huge effect on speciation, one that is "as important as genes".

Maybe we really are ....... The Borg?  J/K!!  But doesn't it make you wonder what you really are?  ;D

Niri Te

 I'll comment later, Seze, AFTER I have had the chance to "Digest" the information.
Niri Te
Tokx alu tawtute, Tirea Le Na'vi

Meuiama Tsamsiyu (Toruk Makto)

I do know there are critters that only e ever live behind the eye lashes. Ya got me why. I also know that our toe and fingernails are not human. Same with all animals. IT is weird but true. The same stuff that makes up our nails makes up a horses hoof and a cats claw.

I figure that the termite, requiring a microbial bacteria to break down and digest the wood in it's stomach or it would die. I know from personal experience that the wrong anti-biotic can kill the bacteria in your digestive tract making it very hard to retain ANYthing after eating or drinking. You remember that horror, Seze. Sucked. So yes, we are a walking zoo.



"He who destroys a good book kills reason itself." -John Milton

"Mathematics is the gate and key to the sciences." -Roger Bacon

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance." -Socrates

Seze Mune

Quote from: Meuiama Tsamsiyu (Toruk Makto) on March 13, 2012, 03:44:56 PM
I do know there are critters that only e ever live behind the eye lashes. Ya got me why. I also know that our toe and fingernails are not human. Same with all animals. IT is weird but true. The same stuff that makes up our nails makes up a horses hoof and a cats claw.

Fingernails are not human?  You mean they are not *exclusively* human, don't you?

Quote from: Meuiama Tsamsiyu (Toruk Makto) on March 13, 2012, 03:44:56 PM
I figure that the termite, requiring a microbial bacteria to break down and digest the wood in its stomach or it would die. I know from personal experience that the wrong antibiotic can kill the bacteria in your digestive tract making it very hard to retain ANYthing after eating or drinking. You remember that horror, Seze. Sucked. So yes, we are a walking zoo.

Your appendix is now thought to be your backup for re-colonization in case of an antibiotic disaster.  And yes, eating yogurt, especially certain kinds, is supposed to help.  So....got yogurt?   :D

Seze Mune

Quote from: Niri Te on March 13, 2012, 03:25:17 PM
I'll comment later, Seze, AFTER I have had the chance to "Digest" the information.
Niri Te

Alright, ma Niri Te......just don't let it bug you! HRH!

Niri Te

Quote from: Seze Mune on March 13, 2012, 07:10:36 PM
Your appendix is now thought to be your backup for re-colonization in case of an antibiotic disaster.  And yes, eating yogurt, especially certain kinds, is supposed to help.  So....got yogurt?   :D

I HATE Yogurt, but eat a BUNCH of cheese, ANY kind, so I guess that how I "Assimilated" my drones.
Niri Te
Tokx alu tawtute, Tirea Le Na'vi

Human No More

They're more like tenants - they gain space to live in return for useful biological functions, as they are unable to support the body's function on their own, and, indeed, although they would not be healthy, someone could live without them, although would likely require external support.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
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dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Seze Mune

Quote from: Niri Te on March 13, 2012, 07:38:58 PM
Quote from: Seze Mune on March 13, 2012, 07:10:36 PM
Your appendix is now thought to be your backup for re-colonization in case of an antibiotic disaster.  And yes, eating yogurt, especially certain kinds, is supposed to help.  So....got yogurt?   :D

I HATE Yogurt, but eat a BUNCH of cheese, ANY kind, so I guess that how I "Assimilated" my drones.
Niri Te

;D

Seze Mune

Quote from: Human No More on March 17, 2012, 05:46:45 PM
They're more like tenants - they gain space to live in return for useful biological functions, as they are unable to support the body's function on their own, and, indeed, although they would not be healthy, someone could live without them, although would likely require external support.

Speculation is, they are so important for the human organism that the appendix evolved to pocket a reserve supply of microbes just in case there was a microbial Armageddon elsewhere throughout the body.  Of course the appendix also serves as a large pocket of lymphoid tissue and is somehow involved in the digestion of cellulose from vegetable matter.  Why it serves this function in humans but is completely absent in ruminant animals is one of nature's little mysteries.   ;)