Hacking biology

Main post link -> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html?_r=0

Bill Gates famously said that if he were a teenager today, he’d be hacking biology: “If you want to change the world in some big way, that’s where you should start – biological molecules.”

I thought this article was a fascinating introduction to the microbiome in our bodies – the several hundred microbial species with whom we share our bodies. There are 100 trillion of these bacteria on our skin, on our tongues, and in our guts.

My favorite excerpt: "In sheer numbers, these microbes and their genes dwarf us. It turns out that we are only 10 percent human: for every human cell that is intrinsic to our body, there are about 10 resident microbes."

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Hacking biology

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