New bacterial species on human skin
With the aid of new technology on research, some of the New York University scientists found new species of microbes in human skin. They swabbed the forearms of six healthy subjects, three men and three women.
Genetic analyses of the samples revealed a total of 182 species of bacteria, some of which have never been described by scientists. The samples include the normal flora of the skin, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus and other bacterial species. Amazingly, nearly three-fourths of the total microbial species were unique to individual subjects, and only four of the species dwelled on all subjects. The researchers suggests that the sex-specific findings may show that each human being provides a unique habitat for the microbes. Further, it may sugge skin attributes such as acidity might differ between men and women and lead to sex-specific bacterial residents.
More researches still have to be done to validate the factors that lead to sex specifity of microbes.
Source: Yaaho! Health News
