/oss/taxonomy/term/2263/all en /oss/article/health-general-science/there-more-microbes-viruses <p>We have been inundated with discussions of viruses but there are other types of microbes out there as well. Fungi, algae, protozoa and of course, bacteria. The latter are not only out there, but inside us as well. We share our body with bacteria. They live in our mouth, on our skin and mostly in our digestive tract. There are up to a thousand different varieties, and their total number, some 100 trillion, is many times greater than the total number of human cells in the body. Luckily, bacterial cells are much smaller than human cells.</p> Tue, 23 Jun 2020 19:49:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8309 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/are-babies-born-c-section-more-risk-those-born-vaginally <p>Babies who are delivered by C-section don’t go through the birth canal, and as a result they don’t get the beneficial microbes that babies born via the birth canal receive. This might help explain why C-section babies are at a higher risk for a variety of diseases. A recent study suggests, however, that this can be mitigated by slathering babies just after birth with a gauze pad that soaked up the microbes in the mothers’ birth canal right before birth. Why? Because it helps restore and normalize the baby’s microbiome.</p> Tue, 21 Feb 2017 04:37:40 +0000 Emily Shore, B.A 1499 at /oss