Inside the microbiome: Why good gut bacteria is the big hope for allergic disease

November 30, 2017

Pioneering researchers are finding astonishing evidence that tiny gut microbes may hold the key to preventing – or even curing– asthma and food allergies. Here’s why they say it’s time we learn to love our bacteria.

Microbes exist everywhere – in water, air, soil, plants and animals, and from the coldest regions of the Antarctic to the boiling hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the sea. According to microbiologist Brett Finlay, there are far more bacteria on Earth than there are stars in the sky, and despite their microscopic size, the Earth’s microbes weigh more than all plants and animals combined. They also predate all other life on Earth.