Human microbiome

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The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within human tissues and biofluids along with the corresponding anatomical sites in which they reside, including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, mammary glands, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian follicles, lung, saliva, oral mucosa, ocular surface, and the biliary tract. Types of human microbiota include bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and viruses. Though micro-animals can also live on the human body, they are typically excluded from this definition. In the context of genomics, the term human microbiome is sometimes used to refer to the collective genomes of resident microorganisms; however, the term human metagenome has the same meaning. The human body hosts many microorganisms, with approximately the same order of magnitude of non-human cells as human cells. Some microorganisms that humans host are commensal, meaning they co-exist without harming or benefiting humans; others have a mutualistic relationship with...

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