I would surely like input from others.. It seems to me this is a ratehr obscure biological condition in all biological species including humans, which has been relatively obscure until recently acquired new knowledge and possible "communication" with our symbiont microbes (good bacteria) the micro-organisms that may assist the human defenses against external virulent (bad) bacteria. https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/changing/
yes!! microbiota is a very interesting topic. We are barely starting to recognize their important role in the pathogenesis of diseases and their role in therapeutics. Apart from their obvious role in the digestion of food (without them we cannot digest), they regulate the immune system. It is literally imposible to survive without them. It is like a separate organ. The total number of symbiotic bacteria in our bodies outnumbers the number of our own cells. It is thus crazy that the majority of the cells in our bodies are not "technically" ours. What is interesting is that it raises many philosophical questions, like "are they a part of ourselves?" or "how can we define what is an individual organism?". This is one of the most controversial questions in biology together with the question whether viruses are living organisms. My opinion is that the question is irrelevant, because they are all biochemical systems that interact. The sense of "self" or individual organisms comes from a special part of our brain responsible for the sense of "identity".
What I find most interesting is that our ablity to learn bacterial chemical language allows us to keep them alive but inhibit their ability for quorum sensing and thereby solve the problem of creating resistant strains. Instead of killing bad bacteria and thus artificially selecting for resistant strains, keeping the bacteria alive but unable to communicate and activate their virulence through quorum sensing does not create immunity, just inability to communicate at intraspecies level, while at the same time affecting population control of virulent species through interspecies comunication. While this may seem science fiction, if we consider that bacteria have been around for billions of years and are the foundation for all subsequent evolution of species, it should not be a surprise that we can learn their (chemical) language and introduce chemical modification to their language and thus influence their behavior. Facinating stuff. p.s. squid, cuttlefish and octopi are remarkable creatures, almost totally alien to us but highly evolved and intelligent, both at subconscious and conscious level. Cultivating a bioluminescent bacterial population in order to use its light producing abilities in order to become invisible to predators is just a wondrously (evolved) sophisticated ability.......Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
This reminds me of the Dutch Tulip mania, which affected the entire commercial tulip trade in Holland. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!Anonymous 17th-century watercolor of the Semper Augustus, famous for being the most expensive tulip sold during the tulip mania. A tulip, known as "the Viceroy" (viseroij), displayed in the 1637 Dutch catalog Verzameling van een Meenigte Tulipaanen. Its bulb was offered for sale for between 3,000 and 4,200 guilders (florins) depending on size (aase). (A skilled craftsworker at the time earned about 300 guilders a year.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania People traded entire farms for a few beautiful variegated tulip bulbs, which were later found to be diseased by bacterial infection.......ohh, those Dutch! Today: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! 12 for $12.49 Multicoloured blooms reminiscent of tulips depicted by the Dutch Masters. Recreate "Tulipomania" in your garden. That phenomenon gripped Holland in the 17th century and literally fortunes were spent for just a single bulb. Most prized were the Rembrandt Tulips, noted for their intriguing colour patterns. At last hybridizers have succeeded in creating these improved, superior, upmarket varieties so that we can offer them to you. Flowers bear an even more remarkable, striking resemblance to the tulips depicted by the Dutch Masters, hence their higher cost and value. This special mixture of modernday Rembrandt Tulips from Holland features a colourful array of feathered, variegated 4" blooms that are stunning in the garden and in bouquets. https://www.brecks.com/product/Impr...MIu4yytafu4QIV5I5bCh23GAhTEAQYASABEgIYiPD_BwE
An astounding extraordinary triple symbiotic relationship. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-ultimate-symbiosis-mealybugs-have-bacteria-living-5830671 In addition; https://homeguides.sfgate.com/mealy-bugs-citrus-26552.html Now imagine we can talk to all three symbionts and control their biome interaction by non-lethal quorum inhibiting chemicals.
Another interesting lecture on our bacterial co-habitants which make us be and feel healthy as well as sick and depressed. and
To clarify some question posed in other threads, I feel this is an important posit in relation to the terms microbiotics and microbiomes, or in general the microbiome system of a living biological organisms. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4544440/
More information about the microbiome system. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Figure 1: Location of normal microbial flora. Each of these areas of the body contain their own microenvironments and various inhabitants of microbes. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Figure 2: H. plyori creates it own microenvironment by burrowing into the mucosal lining of the stomach. Within the lining, the microbe is then able to avoid pH levels that would normally kill it. Here, it may also produce ulcers. aspirin is not without danger: for instance it raises the risk of internal bleeding. Hence the important need to discuss beforehand with the doctor, "In my case, doc, should I be taking daily aspirin? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/243265.php https://www.scq.ubc.ca/microbes-and-you-normal-flora/
So having a diverse and up to date microbiome helps us digest food better, helps reduce our allergies, and helps protect us from illness?
T4 Bacteriophage useful in bacteria control? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! https://www.cedarwrites.com/2016/10/06/myth-busting-bacteriophage/ And guess what shows up in the dynamic part of this micro-organism? Our dear friend the microtubule. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4275845/#!po=7.95455 Later......
