Exploring Microbes: How Bifidobacteriaceae Vary Across Humans

Tiny, beneficial microbes in our bodies, known as Bifidobacteriaceae. Scientists recently dove into a huge pile of human gut data to figure out how these microbes differ between people. They looked at over 9, 500 human gut samples and compared them with 1, 192 microbe genomes from various sources. This giant task revealed some fascinating findings. Bifidobacteriaceae microbes seem to love young folks and those living a Westernized lifestyle. The older we get, the fewer of these microbes we have. Interestingly, where people live also plays a role. Some places had more of these microbes than others. Scientists dug deeper and found 110 unique types of these microbes, with 32 living in humans and 8 found in food or probiotics. These microbes have a wide range of jobs, like breaking down different types of carbohydrates. Surprisingly, the microbes used in probiotics hardly match the ones we naturally carry. Bifidobacterium animalis was the only exception. When it comes to predicting health, these microbes had a mixed bag of results. Their abundance could sometimes hint at a person's health status, but not always.