Health Journalism Glossary

Microbiome

  • Infectious Diseases

The microbiome refers to the community of microbes — bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and fungi — that live on and in the body. There are more than 10,000 of these microbial species in the body and they are vital to human health. Scientists are still trying to figure out why it is so important to health, and why sometimes these microbes can turn deadly to their human hosts.

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