Objective – I can observe and summarize characteristics about bacteria.
Protective Skin Microbes Help Fight Off Disease
Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 26 July 2012
A huge number of microbes live in our guts, on our skin and elsewhere on our bodies. These tiny companions aren't freeloaders. At least some of them may help keep us healthy, increasing evidence indicates.
New research looks at microbes living on skin. It says these bugs may help stimulate the body's defenses.
"The skin, [without] microbes, is not [able] to [take care of] itself. It requires [these beneficial microbes] to promote [resistance to] infection," researcher Yasmine Belkaid told LiveScience. She studies the immunology of infectious disease at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The microbes appear to prepare immune cells (called T-cells). This prepares them to protect the body, Belkaid said. She and others have identified a similar occurrence in the gut. Certain resident microbes can stimulate T cells. The mechanics of this process in the gut, however, are different, Belkaid said.
For this study, researchers gave skin-infecting parasites to mice with a healthy group of skin microbes and to mice that did not have skin microbes.
They found the normal mice developed more noticeable red sores than the mice that didn’t have the microbes. While this may sound strange, the inflamed sores were caused by the immune response, not the parasites. The sores were actually good signs for the mice.
The researchers also added a skin microbe common in humans and mice, Staphylococcus epidermis, to some of the microbe-free mice. This microbe by itself allowed the mice to mount an immune response like the healthy mice with skin microbe.
Discoveries such as this one imply that some illnesses may be related to too little microbe populations on the skin.
Name ______
Protective Skin Microbes Help Fight Off Disease
1. A huge number of microbes live in/on our… (There are two answers to this question)
a. guts.c. skin.
b. eyes.d. feet.
2. Without microbes, the skin is not [able] to [take care of] itself.
a. Trueb. False
3. The microbes appear to prepare immune cells, called ______to protect the body,
a. B cellsc. T cells
b. D cellsd. Z cells
4. For the study, researchers used…
a. gerbils.c. rabbits.
b. mice.d. rats.
5. This bacterium allowed the mice to mount an immune response like the healthy mice with skin microbe.
a. Staphylococcus aureusc. Staphylococcus haemolyticus
b. Staphylococcus epidermisd. Staphylococcus saprophyticus
Protective Skin Microbes Help Fight Off Disease – Key I
1. A huge number of microbes live in/on our… (There are two answers to this question)
a. guts.c. skin.
b. eyes.d. feet.
a. guts.; c. skin.
2. Without microbes, the skin is not [able] to [take care of] itself.
a. Trueb. False
a. True
3. The microbes appear to prepare immune cells, called ______to protect the body,
a. B cellsc. T cells
b. D cellsd. Z cells
c. T cells
4. For the study, researchers used…
a. gerbils.c. rabbits.
b. mice.d. rats.
b. mice.
5. This bacterium allowed the mice to mount an immune response like the healthy mice with skin microbe.
a. Staphylococcus aureusc. Staphylococcus haemolyticus
b. Staphylococcus epidermisd. Staphylococcus saprophyticus
b. Staphylococcus epidermis
Protective Skin Microbes Help Fight Off Disease – Key II
1. a, c
2. a (2 choices)
3. c
4. b
5. b
Five Facts About Your Microbiome/Protective Skin Microbes Help Fight Off Disease
Scoring Guide
5 – 44 – 3.5
3 – 3
2 – 1.5
1 – .5
0 – 0 / 95-100% - 4
90-94% - 3.5
85-89% - 3
80-84% - 2.5
75-79% - 2
70-74% - 1.5
65-69% - 1
1-64% - .5
~1~