The Wisdom of Bacteria 细菌的智慧

一个成人拥有约30万亿个人体细胞，同时拥有40万亿个细菌，这些细菌占我们体重的1％至3％。尽管细菌经常被视为疾病的一种来源，但细菌大多无害甚至有益。我们的肠道生活着500种大约1公斤（100万亿）微生物。它们是人类非同寻常的伙伴，它们雕刻我们的器官，保护我们免受疾病侵害，分解我们的食物，教育我们的免疫系统，指导我们的行为，用其基因轰击我们的基因组，并赋予我们不可思议的能力。

致病的细菌，或者说病原体，其实是极少数，绝大多数生活在人体内的细菌，都能与人体和平相处。我们不能没有细菌，尽管有时我们会因为细菌而死亡。一个墨西哥的芽孢杆菌已经存活了2亿5千万年，一个人却百年后化为一抔原子。如果想万寿无疆的领袖请教墨西哥细菌永远健康的智慧，细菌可能懒洋洋的答道，“大道至简，大智若愚”。

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Average adult contains around 30 trillion human cells, harbors 40 trillion bacteria, which account for between 1% and 3% of our body mass. We have 500 species of microbes, around 100 trillion weight 1kg, live in our guts. They are human extraordinary partners, they sculpt our organs, defend us from disease, break down our food, educate our immune systems, guide our behavior, bombard our genomes with their genes, and grant us incredible abilities. Although they are frequently viewed as a source of disease, bacteria are mostly harmless or even beneficial. We can­not live with­out bac­te­ria, though some­times we die be­cause of bac­te­ria.

Reference

Ed Yong. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. HarperCollins, 2016.