The more scientists investigate the microbes (微生物) living inside us, the more they learn about the surprising impact of the tiny organisms on how we look, act, think, and feel. Are our health and well-being really driven by the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in our intestines (肠), in our lungs, on our skin, on our eyeballs? What a weird concept — that the bugs we carry around appear to be essential to establishing the basic nature of who we are.
The effects of the microbiome, the microorganisms that exist in human body, can be profound and can start incredibly early. In a study, scientists showed that something supposedly as natural as a child's character might be related to the bacteria in an infant's digestive system; the more Bifidobacterium (双歧杆菌) there are, the sunnier the baby is. This observation, from the University of Turku in Finland, is based on an analysis of samples from 301 babies. Those with the highest proportion of Bifidobacterium organisms at two months old were more likely to exhibit a trait the researchers called "positive emotionality" at six months old.
Microbiome science is still relatively young. Most studies so far have been initial and small-scale, involving only a dozen or so mice or humans. Scientists have found associations between the microbiome and disease but can't yet draw clear cause-and-effect conclusions about our extensive collection of microorganisms and their effects on us as hosts. Still, the collection itself is mind-boggling — it's now thought to be around 38 trillion microbes for a typical young adult male, slightly more than the number of actual human cells. And the prospects for putting that collection to use are more than promising.
In the not-too-distant future, according to the most enthusiastic researchers, it might be a routine for us to take a dose of healthy microbes in various forms. Hopefully, with the help of new medical advances, we will be able to achieve our full potential by functioning at peak levels internally and externally.
