Jun 26, 2021
By analyzing ancient poop samples, researchers have discovered that the human microbiome has changed dramatically over the past millennium.
Palaeofaeces!! well, shit.
The authors of the study suggest that during the past millennium, the human microbiome has lost dozens of bacterial species and has become less diverse.
The ancient microbiomes lacked markers for antibiotic resistance and included dozens of bacterial species that were previously unknown. According to the study, “a total of 181 of the 498 reconstructed microbial genomes were classified as gut derived and had extensive DNA damage, consistent with an ancient origin, and 39% of the ancient genomes offered evidence of being newly discovered species.”
