Jan 18, 2023

​A Mass Extinction Is Taking Place in the Human Gut

"Trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes live in the digestive tract. Many of them are beneficial to human health—influencing our metabolism and immune system, for example. But their diversity is under threat from industrialization, urbanization, and environmental changes."

As more people move to cities, they adopt new eating habits and are exposed to a different environment. Pastoralists in Ethiopia are also starting to buy more foods such as rice and pasta. This could change the composition of their microbiome and push the specialized bacteria living in their guts to extinction, according to public health researcher Abdifatah Muhummed

Please read full at:
https://www.wired.com/story/microbiota-vault/