It turns out that you are unique..just like everyone else:
..scientists took saliva samples from a total of 120 people in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. By sequencing and analyzing genes in the saliva, they identified 101 known bacterial genera, including 39 that had never been found in the mouth before.
Mouth microbe makeup varied greatly from person to person, but not in any geographically structured way. Two people from Louisiana were likely to be as different as a Bolivian and a South African.
Also important is the reminder that microorganisms populate our every nook and cranny.
"This study confirms that the amount of microbial diversity on and in our bodies is really impressive," said Noah Fierer of the University of Colorado. "We're basically a walking microbial ecosystem."
In fact, the argument could be made that we're more microbe than human. Scientists estimate that microorganisms living on and inside us outnumber human cells more than 10 to one.
"A lot of people get freaked out when they hear that," Fierer said. "But a lot of microbes are either completely innocuous or beneficial."
Some gut bacteria, for example, stimulate immune-system development, help us digest carbohydrates and fats, and synthesize vitamins for us. These creatures have co-evolved with us for eons, and their biology is inextricably tied to ours.
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