You Share Your Body with 90 Trillion Roommates
And just like your real roommate, they don’t pay rent (but they do at least clean up the place). Your body is a veritable planet, housing some 90 trillion roommates, mostly microbes. These spiderlike mooches hang out in places like your eyelashes, buried headfirst in your follicles, just munching away at your skin. (Hey, we all have to eat.)
Of course, you don’t notice these microscopic crawlers, nor do you notice the other miniature members of your personal planet. Our gastrointestinal tract is full of about three pounds of mostly useful bacteria responsible for digesting carbohydrates and manufacturing vitamins K and B12. In fact, scientists say there’s good evidence to suggest that some obese folks may simply be lacking in enough gut bugs. (This post just gets better and better, I know.)
Moving on, about 8 per cent of your genetic code is made of useless, self-replicating DNA “viruses”. From rather pretty vaginal flora (they resemble cotton-candy pink pills) to nasties like papillomavirus, the human body is a wondrous ecosystem of life. Wouldn’t you know, jock itch, athlete’s foot and ringworm are basically cousins. And once one moves in…
Now, just because I love you, this eight-legged daddy is one you would definitely notice. Unfortunately, this is actual size. Microbes aren’t so bad, now are they?
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