People new to CS sometimes worry that while killing off "bad"
bacteria in the gut, the CS might also kill off "good" ones.
If the people below are correct, that may not be a worry at all.
Rowena
http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#more-222
<http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#more-222>
http://bacteriality.com/ <http://bacteriality.com/>
Long article. Quotes below:
Finally, bacteria enter the picture – the rise of metagenomics
and the Human Microbiome Project
The paradigm shift described above, in which genetic mutations are
viewed in a new light, has been largely fueled by a new movement in
which scientists are now beginning to use molecular technology to detect
and sequence bacteria in lieu of simply trying to grow them in the lab.
These tools will allow researchers to bypass the need to culture
bacteria, exploring the human microbiome by studying genes en masse,
rather than studying the organisms themselves.
Recent studies that have used powerful molecular tools rather than
standard cultivation techniques have left scientists slack-jawed at the
number of bacterial DNA sequences that correspond to bacteria yet to be
named or sequenced. A great number of sequences also correspond to
bacteria never thought to have the capability of living on or within the
human body. It has recently become all too clear that only a fraction of
the bacteria capable of infecting humans grow in the lab, and that we
have been oblivious to the presence of the majority of pathogens capable
of entering our bodies. This realization that we harbor myriad unnamed
and unidentified microbes comes at a time when the Human Genome Project
is failing to capitalize on its promise to identify root causes for
human disease.
As Mullard admits, “The microbes that swarm in and on the human body
have always held a certain fascination for researchers. Since so few of
them grow in the lab, it has been difficult to work out exactly who
these microbial passengers are and how they interact with one another.”
Whereas over the past century, standard laboratory culturing techniques
have failed to detect the vast number of pathogens capable of infecting
human beings, recent advances in molecular technology that allow for the
sequencing of bacterial DNA mean that, at long last, we may be able to
successfully identify and sequence the bacteria that cause disease.”
The reality is that the plethora of unknown pathogens that colonize the
human body are the previously unrecognized puzzle piece behind chronic
inflammatory disease. Enter metagenomics, a relatively new field of
research that, thanks to advanced molecular techniques, enables
researchers to study organisms not easily cultured in a laboratory as
well as organisms in their natural environment.
..........................
This isn’t to say that there aren’t species of gut bacteria that can
provide a benefit to their host. Yet increasing evidence points to the
fact that the vast majority of gut bacteria are actually responsible for
causing many bowel diseases previously considered to be of “unknown”
cause. When faced with the large number of different inflammatory bowel
diseases and the fact that a tremendous number of uncharacterized
bacteria inhabit the gut, it’s logical that there’s a connection between
the two phenomena. Of course, Marshall’s /in silico/ work, as well as
data derived from the MP study site shows that patients who kill large
numbers of gut bacteria end up recovering from a number of bowel
diseases, providing a good deal of support for the above hypothesis.
This all invokes the rather controversial question, “Do humans really
need gut bacteria?” Those patients to spend long periods of time on the
MP have killed a great deal of their gut bacteria, yet seem to have GI
tracts that function properly. Marshall has conceded that “good” gut
bacteria could potentially exist, but as of yet, he has simply seen no
evidence of a species that offers humans a benefit.
..........................
Rather than viewing the majority of them as “friends,” we may
unfortunately have to face the fact that many of them are enemies, or at
least not necessary for our well-being. It still remains unclear if
humans would want to be completely bacteria-free if the option existed,
but the possibility that a person would be in better health without
bacteria is nevertheless an intriguing possibility. Or perhaps in the
future, humans will be able to pick and choose the bacteria that will
inhabit their guts, in order to harbor certain species that fit their
specific needs.
.........................
Several studies support the possibility that chronic bacteria can infect
the stem cells. A team of German researchers recently showed that
patients who had suffered a heart attack (an event most likely caused by
chronic bacterial forms in the heart and blood vessels) had stem cells
which were only about half as effective at repairing the heart tissue as
stem cells transplanted from healthy 20 year-old males. This supports
the view that infected stem cells lack many of the healing properties
maintained by their healthy counterparts.
Dr Emil Wirosko, one of the foremost experts on L-form bacteria, died
before he could publish on the subject. But according to his colleagues,
Wirosko believed L-form bacteria are able to infect stem cells.
Then there are telomeres – DNA sequences on the ends of chromosomes that
are gradually lost as cells replicate. As they shorten, a cell can no
longer divide and becomes inactive or dies – meaning that the length of
a person’s telomeres plays a role in how quickly they will age. The fact
that people with heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other illnesses
have been shown to lose telomere sequences at a faster rate than their
healthy counterparts suggests that the bacteria involved in causing such
diseases may also have an effect on telomere length.^[2
<http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#footnote_1_222>] As
Marshall describes, if pathogens do directly alter our DNA, then the
weakened DNA at the ends of telomeres provides some of the easiest
genetic material for them to mutate.
Once again then, the question is posed: What might occur if humans were
to become largely bacteria-free? Might they age at a slower rate? The
possibility is tantalizing. Data from people on the Marshall Protocol,
who are gradually reducing their bacterial loads, will prove to be
increasingly insightful in this regard as time wears on.
As previously discussed, the sequencing of the human genome alone does
not allow for the Gattaca-like world described earlier in which humans
could be identified and catalogued by their unique DNA sequences.
Ironically, the human Microbiome Project and Marshall’s work might make
that world more of a reality. If it turns out that the bacteria we
harbor are a source of disease and a burden on the innate immune system,
then the population will seek (like those people on the MP) to eliminate
at least the majority of them.
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