The quantity and diversity of bacteria that populate the human gut is truly mind-boggling; there are over 10,000 species of microbes, and for every human gene in your body, there are 360 microbial genes. Researchers are just starting to understand the importance of these microbes to our digestion. In an editorial published today in Cell Press, a team of Australian researchers argue that doctors should be spending more time analyzing patients' gaseous byproducts (you may know them as farts) to better understand their digestive health.
Good news for the countless people across the globe suffering from some kind of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which includes a large proportion of those dealing with skin cancer. Australian researchers have discovered the "stop signal" gene for SCC that is absent in virtually every SCC tumor they looked at. Without it, cells replicate uncontrolled causing a tumor, but knowing what gene is missing gives researchers the means to develop new strategies to treat and prevent this common form of cancer.
