Sharing The Bounty Gut Bacteria May Be The Missing Piece That Explains The Connection Between Diet And Cancer Risk.

[Michaelangelica]

http://the-scientist.com/2011/08/01/sharing-the-bounty/

 

Although gut bacteria have long been called commensal (in which only one party derives benefit, but neither is harmed), it is now clear that we draw many benefits from their colonization of our body, some of them essential to our health.

Our relationship with gut bacteria is complicated, however. While involved in metabolizing food into energy, producing micronutrients, and shaping our immune systems, gut microbes are also increasingly being linked to medical conditions including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes.

And our understanding of their influence continues to widen: these bacteria may play a critical role in cancer, either protecting us from it, or in some cases, promoting its initiation and progression.