'We know that our gut bacteria are a fundamental component of our essence. We can no longer separate our gut bacteria from who we are. Out of the emerging research on the microbiota and the microbiome, one thing is perfectly clear — the bacteria in our body outnumber us and probably outperform us.
We house microbes in every part of our body — intestines, skin, mouth, to the tune of 100 trillion. That means that there are more bacterial cells in and on our bodies than there are cells that make up our body, tissues and organs.
Justin Sonnenburg, a microbiologist at Stanford, has said,
we would do well to begin regarding the human body as an elaborate vessel optimized for the growth and spread of our microbial inhabitants.'
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