The trillions of microbes that live on and in the human body are an important part of who we are, from mediating all our interactions with the environment to determining our cancer risk and influencing who we fall for. And scientists are only beginning to decipher the types of insects we share our lives with, and how they shape us.
In the final part of this Science Weekly miniseries, Ian Sample meets Julie Thornton, Academic Director of the Center for Skin Sciences and Professor of Skin Biology at the University of Bradford. Julie tells Ian how the skin microbiome varies across our bodies, how it helps with everything from wound healing to immunity, and how we can protect it from the disruptive impact of modern life.
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