• IndescribablySad@threads.net@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    20 hours ago

    Some perform tasks, but they largely just take up space, and that’s a good thing. Your body’s full of materials that malignantly pathogenic bacteria would love to get their hands on. Bacteria that are largely incapable of doing anything to us take up space that would otherwise be occupied. You’d likely prefer an old squatter living in your walls, rather than a crackhead. You’d probably choose an electrician, but that’s life. Better they’re largely benign than overtly and desperately malicious.

    You factually do have a viral balance in your internal ecosystem. Bacteriophages cull populations, and some viruses hyper-specialize in attacking cancer. There are more examples, but I can’t immediately recall

    • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      20 hours ago

      thank you, that makes sense to me.

      i’m interested in actually understanding what functions what elements of the gut microbiome perform. but i guess that’s a highly complicated topic, so i expect no quick answers

      • IndescribablySad@threads.net@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        19 hours ago

        You’re asking a question without a complete answer, as it’s a complex system in active research, but truthfully, I only know of a couple offhandedly. Some strains of lactobacillus occupy space largely benignly, and some E. coli produce vitamin k. But mostly, they’re just eating and multiplying. Hit up Wikipedia for an abundance of specifics.