Body’s bacteria don’t outnumber human cells so much after all

New calculations suggest roughly equal populations, not 10-to-1 ratio

Enterococcus bacteria

EVEN ODDS  In the human body, bacteria (such as Enterococcus bacteria, shown) were once thought to outnumber human cells by 10-to-1. New calculations show roughly equal numbers of each.

Cultura RM/Alamy Stock Photo

Human bodies don’t contain 10 times as many bacteria as human cells, new calculations suggest.