Open AccessWhat are the consequences of the disappearing human microbiota?
Author(s) -
Martin J. Blaser,
Stanley Falkow
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
nature reviews. microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.496
H-Index - 300
eISSN - 1740-1534
pISSN - 1740-1526
DOI - 10.1038/nrmicro2245
Subject(s) - biology , niche , commensalism , human microbiome , population , disease , human health , indigenous , microbiome , human biology , ecology , zoology , evolutionary biology , genetics , bacteria , environmental health , medicine , pathology
Humans and our ancestors have evolved since the most ancient times with a commensal microbiota. The conservation of indicator species in a niche-specific manner across all of the studied human population groups suggests that the microbiota confer conserved benefits on humans. Nevertheless, certain of these organisms have pathogenic properties and, through medical practices and lifestyle changes, their prevalence in human populations is changing, often to an extreme degree. In this Essay, we propose that the disappearance of these ancestral indigenous organisms, which are intimately involved in human physiology, is not entirely beneficial and has consequences that might include post-modern conditions such as obesity and asthma.