Healthcalendar_todayLast updated: Apr 2026
What is Microbiome?
/ˌmaɪkrəʊˈbaɪəʊm/
The complete collection of microorganisms — bacteria, fungi, viruses — living in and on the human body. The gut microbiome alone contains approximately 38 trillion microorganisms.
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Everyday Example
When you take antibiotics, they kill harmful bacteria — but also beneficial gut bacteria. This is why you're advised to eat yogurt during a course: to help restore the microbiome balance your antibiotics disrupted.
publicReal-World Application
“Research links gut microbiome composition to mental health through the "gut-brain axis". Studies found correlations between disrupted microbiomes and depression and anxiety — opening new psychiatric treatment avenues.”
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Did you know?
The Human Microbiome Project, launched by the NIH in 2007, mapped the microbial communities of the human body — revealing that microbial genes outnumber human genes by roughly 100 to 1.
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Key Insight
You are more microbe than human. The cells in your body are roughly 50% human; the rest are microbial. These microbes are not passengers — they are essential partners in digestion, immunity, and mood regulation.
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