Year in Review: Your body is mostly microbes

Microbiome results argue for new view of animals as superorganisms

MICROBE MECCA  About a thousand species of bacteria reside in the human gut, some of which are displayed in this hand-colored scanning electron micrograph.

Martin Oeggerli

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We are not alone. Humans’ vast inner and outer spaces teem with a menagerie of microbes that stand poised to alter conceptions of what and who we are.