Discovered Tribe’s Bacteria May Point to Our Past
Discovered Tribe’s Bacteria May Point to Our Past
The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, seem to be part of a pattern.
Samples collected from other rural hunter-gatherer peoples, like the Hadza in Tanzania and the Matses in Peru, also show that they have many more kinds of bacteria living in their intestines compared to people in more-developed countries. The more industrialized the society, the fewer different kinds of bacteria they have, studies show.
What isn’t known is whether having a more diverse stew of bacteria in our intestines translates to better health. That’s a theory called the “missing microbes” hypothesis. And the study found a bit of evidence to back it.
For example, some of the bacteria unique to the Yanomami, but missing in many other populations, are known to have health benefits. A species called Oxalobacter formigenes, for instance, breaks down a chemical called oxalate, which is a major component of kidney stones.
Researchers are starting a library of the microbes they found in the hopes it can be mined for insights.
Another major mystery from the study was the discovery of antibiotic-resistant genes, since the villagers had never taken modern drugs.
Researchers say they expected to find some of those defenses. Antibiotics were first discovered in nature from molds, and studies have shown that soil bacteria have genes that protect them from natural compounds that might try to kill them.
Study author Gautam Dantas, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University, says tribe members also had bacteria with genes resistant to modern drugs that are not made naturally in soil.
“It confirms to us that bacteria have incredible metabolic and evolutionary potential to rapidly adapt to things that we throw at them,” he says.
“When you use antibiotics, whether it’s in agriculture or in the clinic, you amplify the amounts [of resistance]. You allow it to get into many more bacteria. … Bacteria that might be resistant to one or two antibiotics, now quickly become resistant to 5, 10, 15 antibiotics,” Dantas says.
What that may mean is that antibiotics may have an even shorter shelf-life when it comes to their ability to kill bacteria than once thought.
Discovered Tribe’s Bacteria May Point to Our Past
Bacteria and Our Health
The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, seem to be part of a pattern.
Samples collected from other rural hunter-gatherer peoples, like the Hadza in Tanzania and the Matses in Peru, also show that they have many more kinds of bacteria living in their intestines compared to people in more-developed countries. The more industrialized the society, the fewer different kinds of bacteria they have, studies show.
What isn’t known is whether having a more diverse stew of bacteria in our intestines translates to better health. That’s a theory called the “missing microbes” hypothesis. And the study found a bit of evidence to back it.
For example, some of the bacteria unique to the Yanomami, but missing in many other populations, are known to have health benefits. A species called Oxalobacter formigenes, for instance, breaks down a chemical called oxalate, which is a major component of kidney stones.
Researchers are starting a library of the microbes they found in the hopes it can be mined for insights.
Another major mystery from the study was the discovery of antibiotic-resistant genes, since the villagers had never taken modern drugs.
Researchers say they expected to find some of those defenses. Antibiotics were first discovered in nature from molds, and studies have shown that soil bacteria have genes that protect them from natural compounds that might try to kill them.
Study author Gautam Dantas, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University, says tribe members also had bacteria with genes resistant to modern drugs that are not made naturally in soil.
“It confirms to us that bacteria have incredible metabolic and evolutionary potential to rapidly adapt to things that we throw at them,” he says.
“When you use antibiotics, whether it’s in agriculture or in the clinic, you amplify the amounts [of resistance]. You allow it to get into many more bacteria. … Bacteria that might be resistant to one or two antibiotics, now quickly become resistant to 5, 10, 15 antibiotics,” Dantas says.
What that may mean is that antibiotics may have an even shorter shelf-life when it comes to their ability to kill bacteria than once thought.
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