You're never alone at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2014
1,021 views · Published 29 April 2014 · 4:49 · Indexed 6 November 2026
Channel: The Royal Society · 2014 · Science & Technology
You're never alone... immune-bacterial interactions in the gut exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2014. Sarah McCuaig, PhD Student, University of Oxford. Dr Nathan West, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oxford. Our bodies are in constant contact with the environment and exposed to a variety of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. Astonishingly, the human gut contains about 100 trillion microbial cells; this means that they outnumber our human cells by at least ten to one! Normally, these do not cause disease, and are actually essential for our physiology: they synthesise vitamins, provide nutrients by degrading complex food molecules, and help protect us from harmful pathogens. A peaceful coexistence between us and our microbes has evolved over millions of years, and disruption of this relationship lies at the heart of major human illnesses. The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2014 was held 1-6 July 2014 at the Royal Society in London. Find out more: http://sse.royalsociety.org/2014/
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