2.09.2007

GETTING ITCHY?

We’ve always known that the human skin is crawling with millions of microbes and bacteria, but a recent examination using DNA molecular testing found that there are at least 182 different species of bacteria living on your skin, and probably as many as 250, with microbes outnumbering human cells by a 10 to one margin. Interestingly, one of the researchers studying the microbes said that the common notion of washing your hands all the time to prevent illness may be useless because you end up washing off many of the “good” bacteria which form a protective layer over our skin as a defense against “bad” bacteria. (Scientific American)

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