Is there microorganisms in our body? – MRC Medical Research Zone

Zahra Massoud answered on 6 Nov 2020:

Yes! There’s actually a greater number of microorganism cells in our bodies than our own cells. These microorganisms live all over our body, and help with things like your digestion, fighting against harmful bacteria or viruses, and producing vitamins we need that we can’t produce ourselves, like vitamins B12 and K.

Guy Yona answered on 6 Nov 2020: last edited 6 Nov 2020 3:03 pm

Oh sure – lots!
Our gut is lined with very many bacteria, a lot more than the cells in our bodies. Most of them are benign and very helpful, as Zahra wrote. Some of them – not so much, and they wait for the right opportunity to cause trouble. It’s worth knowing that technically these bacteria are on the inner surface of our body (the gut), not *in* our bodies (i.e. in the bloodstream or between our cells) – these places shouldn’t have any bacteria in them.
Another thing to know is that each of our cells has small “machines” in it called mitochondria (that’s plural), that help it to use oxygen to breathe. These mitochondia evolved from ancient microorganisms that got inside the cells, and have been dividing with them in coordination since the early days of life.

Ed Tunnacliffe answered on 9 Nov 2020:

As both Zahra and Guy have said – absolutely, we have loads of microorganisms like bacteria living inside our bodies. Some researchers have estimated the number to be 38 trillion! One other interesting thing about them is that often this big mix of microorganisms, which is often called our ‘microbiome’, is now thought to be involved in causing, or preventing, different diseases which humans might get. This is a very new area of research so it’s not well-known exactly how this all works but it is very exciting and lots of people are working to see if we can use these microorganisms within us to help cure all sorts of different conditions!

Thomas Williams answered on 10 Nov 2020:

As everyone else has said there are more microbe cells in your body than human cells- so are you really even a human, or just a lot of microbes around a body to support it?!

Microbes live all over your body: on your skin, in your gut and anywhere else you can think of! The types of microbes are different in each place as the environments are very different- your skin has a lot of ‘streptococcus’ bacteria, while your gut has more E. coli (a nice kind that doesn’t make you sick!). The types of microbe change as you age as well, and even when you change your diet.

Finally, stop eating now! Most people get their first gut microbes when they’re born, by swallowing a bit of their mum’s poo.

Emily Speakman answered on 12 Nov 2020:

Yes, there are loads of microorganisms in our body! They live on our skin, in our mouth ad in our stomach very happily most of the time. They can even help break down the food you eat and process the energy your body needs. Most of the microorganisms in your tummy and on your skin are good but sometime they can be bad. My research looks at a fungi that lives in your tummy called Candida Albicans – when it gets into your blood it can be very bad. My research looks at how our body stops it from doing bad things in our blood.

Berengere Digard answered on 24 Nov 2020:

Yes, loads, and we need them! We have good microorganisms all over our skin that protect it from bad microorganisms. We also have microorganisms in our intestines that digest some types of food for us, because we can’t digest them ourselves. So they cut it in tiny pieces for us so that we can use them!

Question: Is there microorganisms in our body?

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