Candida albicans is a fungus that lives in the body and can affect how quickly you recover from illness.
Alexei Kotelnikov/Alamy
Literally, we're all a little moldy. A large number of fungi exist in our bodies. They are scattered on our skin, in our mouths, and in our intestines. Some of them are so well adapted to life inside the human body that they cannot survive elsewhere. However, little is known about this “mycobiome” and what it does.
We know fungi exist and we read their DNA. But in the past, it wasn't clear whether fungi provide us with any benefits or are primarily passive hitchhikers, strange invaders that cause infections. However, the current boom in interest in the bacteria that resides in our intestines has led researchers to take a new look at fungi, with the aim of unraveling their secrets.
What they discovered is that our resident fungi may have a significant impact on our health, and that we can manipulate them to improve our resilience to disease. It means that we are increasing the prospects that we can improve.
The good news is we're not starting from scratch. First, we know that the fungi in our bodies are less diverse than the bacteria in our bodies, perhaps 10 times less diverse. Lindsay Curran At McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. We also know that certain fungi occur continuously.For example, a genus of yeast called Malassezia It accounts for the majority…
Source: www.newscientist.com
