News flash: Not only are you part of an ecosystem that sustains you, but you are also a unique ecosystem yourself, a host to other species.
Months ago at my prior Evolving Mind blog, I began a post, titled, An Oral Ecosystem, with these words:
That big, moist hole in your face — it’s an ecosystem thriving with life. Every time you swallow: death. Each time you brush and/or gargle: a mass slaughter.
Yes, your mouth is home to bacteria. You could say your mouth is a self-sustaining zoo with inhabitants different than the person sitting next to you. New research has revealed the same is true for . . . the skin of your hands! And the information could be used to convict you of a crime. How so?
The CU-Boulder study showed that “personal” bacterial communities living on the fingers and palms of individual computer users that were deposited on keyboards and mice matched the bacterial DNA signatures of users much more closely than those of random people. [source]
Cool. Watch for this finding to be incorporated into a future episode of CSI: Hoboken. Or Las Vegas. Or something. If it hasn’t already.
I wonder. Did the great god of bacteria grant them dominion over us, their ecosystem, providers of their shelter and nourishment?
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Tags: creationism, evolution, the human animal
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