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A March 12, 2024 issue of Phys.org, reported a conclusive study that our gut microbiome not only vary widely from one person to another, but are indeed unique to each individual much like our fingerprint.

 

The study is led by Michael Snyder, Ph.D., the Stanford W. Ascherman, MD, FACS Professor in Genetics and director of the Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and co-authored by Xin Zhou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in genetics. Snyder, Zhou and their team studied the gut, mouth, nose and skin microbiomes of 86 individuals.

 

Each person’s sheer massive size of their microbiome—around 39 trillion microbe—and the fact that it can constantly change make it difficult to study. 

 

While there are common microbial species found across individuals, the specific strains, proportions, and functions can be very different. Additionally, each individual’s microbial composition are fluid and constantly changing over time.

Dr. Snyder says this is the first time researchers have looked at the entire microbiome of different body sites as a single, fluid system.