Excuse me, my what?!

Duh, Kineosphaeram, one of the over 600 bacterial species that may be living in your mouth or other areas of your body. If you don’t harbor Kineosphaeram, then perhaps your mouth is home to Bergeriella, Buttiauxella, Cedecea, Derxia, Faecalibacterium, Hallella, Mannheimia, Paludibacterm, Ruminococcus, Thermovirga, or Wolinella. The list goes on….

Looks like a few bacteria have visited this mouth.

If these bacterial species sound new to you, it’s because many of them are. Several of the species were just recently named after researchers led by Dr. Mark Stoneking of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany conducted the first in-depth study of global diversity in the human mouth. The team sequenced and analyzed variations in the bacterial gene encoding 16S rRNA, a component of the bacterial ribosome, in the salivary metagenome (bacterial population) of 120 healthy subjects from six geographic areas. The researchers proceeded to compare the sequences they found with a database of previously categorized 16S rRNA sequences to categorize the types of bacteria present.

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As humans, our environment consistently exposes us to a variety of dangers. Tornadoes, lightning, flooding and hurricanes can all hamper our survival. Not to mention the fact that most of us can encounter swerving cars or ill-intentioned people at any given moment.

Biofilms form when bacteria adhere to surfaces in aqueous environments and begin to excrete a slimy, glue-like substance that can anchor them to all kinds of material

Thousands of years ago, humans realized that they could better survive a dangerous world if they formed into communities, particularly communities consisting of people with different talents. They realized that a community is far more likely to survive through division of labor– one person makes food, another gathers resources, still another protects the community against invaders. Working together in this manner requires communication and cooperation.

Inhabitants of a community live in close proximity and create various forms of shelter in order to protect themselves from external threats. We build houses that protect our families and larger buildings that protect the entire community. Grouping together inside places of shelter is a logical way to enhance survival.

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Patients with diabetic neuropathy may not notice minor injuries due to loss of feeling in their lower extremities. Since the Vitamin D Receptor is inactivated by bacterial ligands, a small cut or sore can become infected, and flare into a limb- or life-threatening condition in as little as three days. These wounds are so difficult to heal that most of medicine considers them a lost cause and treats them with amputation. Amputations are often considered to be the beginning of the end for patients with diabetes.

Dr. Randall Wolcott

70% of diabetics who undergo an amputation die within five years due to the stress placed on their hearts from their altered circulatory system. During those five years they are likely to have more amputations and to rate their quality of life worse than cancer patients, according to some studies.

Nationally, an estimated 82,000 people with diabetes had lower-limb amputations in 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But thanks to a doctor at the Southwest Regional Wound Care Center in Lubbock, Texas, who has teamed up with researchers from Montana State University’s Center for Biofilm Engineering, this situation is changing. After sending samples of the sludge on his patient’s wounds to the Center, Dr. Randall Wolcott was informed that his samples were largely composed of bacterial biofilms.

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