Our first inoculation (whether with vaginal or skin microbes) initially operates based on fermentative abilities of the colonizing microbes, setting up a micro-biont social class system that is important for the health of our holobionts. First facultative microbes move in; then obligate anaerobes[1] slide into the functional niches made as the oxygen gets all used … Continue reading →

We talked briefly that certain studies postulate that the current human-microbe relationship began with the dawn of agriculture when humans began to actively shape and structure their external ecosystem[i]. So a relationship began that has continued for thousands of years: we are born, inoculated, and select[1] for the microbes that will make our human holobiont … Continue reading →

Tolerization of the GALT to microbes in the gut is an ongoing, dynamic process. Every individual is exposed to different microbes at different times. However, just as when early man laid down the first irrigation canals that would change the landscape of the Fertile Crescent forever, the first few years of our lives are possibly … Continue reading →

We discussed in the previous chapter that the gut has a cellular wall around it composed of human epithelial cells as well as the fluid mucus layer. Both act as a physical barrier; however, our mucus provides a sort of no-man’s-land where phages wait for prey and microbes establish their niche. The mucus that lines … Continue reading →