Global Survey of Oral Microbes Completed

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have completed the first in-depth study of the global diversity of the human oral microbiome.

More than 600 different species of bacteria were found to live in human saliva, with the composition of each person's oral microbiome as unique as a fingerprint. Samples were studied from six geographic areas around the globe and the microbiome of each was found not to vary significantly, regardless of location, ethnicity or diet. This research is part of a recent initiative to study the microbiomes of several areas of the human body, with previous work focusing on the intestines and skin.

The human body harbors ten times more foreign microorganisms than body cells. As the mouth is the ideal gateway for foreign entry into the body, an easily obtained saliva sample is valuable for the study of the health effects disease, diet or cultural factors. It could also lead to the analysis of human migrations and populations around the world.

These results were published in the February 27th edition of Genome Research.

Source: ScienceDaily