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Maps Reveal Where Germs Lurk on Your Skin

| April 13, 2015 Comment

Maps reveal where germs lurk on your skin – You are what you eat, drink, wear and wash in.

The bacteria and chemicals found on human skin have been sampled and mapped across the human body. The result is a series of 3-D images revealing the thousands of microbes and molecules people carry with them — or on them — each day.

The maps show the unique composition of skin — the body’s largest organ — on the bodies of two test subjects, and can reveal the food they eat, medicine they consume and body products they use. This interplay between the microbes found on skin with the surrounding environment can provide insight into someone’s food and drug use, personal hygiene, and beauty practices. This mapping can one day help us understand the role of skin in health and disease.

According to the lead author, Pieter Dorrestein, professor of pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, the mapping of microbial communities found on the skin could be used to pinpoint what may be going wrong with an individual, and use that information to improve health.

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