A hidden community of billions is working to keep your body running smoothly.
It’s affected by what you eat and drink, any medicines you take, how much you exercise, and how often you poo.
It has also been linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, mental health, and dementia.
Meet your gut microbiome: a community of around 4,500 different types of bacteria living in your bowels.
You carry around as many microbial cells as human cells in your body.
The community's composition is different in all of us, but when it’s knocked out of balance, so are you.
Cambridge scientists are trying to get a grasp on the basic rules these bacteria play by, in the hope of understanding not only what’s going on in there, but how we might be able to use our microbiome to our advantage.
