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Bacteria everywhere
Question: How many kinds of bacteria are there, and how many bacteria does the average person come in contact with every day? Answer: We have no idea how many kinds of bacteria there are, but we believe the numbers are astounding. For example, there are over 300 kinds of bacteria in our mouths, yet we can grow only a handful. Bacteria are everywhere, and they are very numerous. Within our body, there are 10 times more bacteria than the number of human cells. Put another way, there are more bacteria in a gram of feces than the total number of people in the world. Bacteria live on our skin, on surfaces, etc. Thus we are constantly ingesting bacteria. Every time we inhale, we breath in a few microbes. Contacting bacteria is a normal process. B. Brett Finlay is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar. He received his undergraduate and Ph.D. in the mechanisms of bacterial conjugation from the University of Alberta, studying under the world-renown microbiologist, Stan Falkow. He then moved to Vancouver and began his own laboratory where he focuses on salmonella and E. Coli bacteria. About his chosen profession, Dr. Finlay says, "It's an awesome life! You get to find things that no one else has seen before. I mean, what a concept, to live in a world where you don't know what's going to happen each day." He is an internationally-known researcher and speaker. Brett Finlay has two lectures, The Microbes Strike Back and Outwitting Bacteria's Wily Ways, available on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute website (see link below). RELATED SITES: Finlay Lab Homepage | ||||
