You Are What You Host: Microbiome Modulation of the Aging Process

As you look in the mirror, you may only see yourself staring back,but in reality, you are not alone; you share your body with trillions of others. Contained on and within our bodies thrives a dynamic population of microbes that form a ‘‘metaorganism’’ comprising ten bacterial cells for every one of our own. 

Despite coevolving in the presence of this ‘‘microbiome’’ for 500 million years (Cho and Blaser, 2012), only recently have advances in sequencing technology allowed us to appreciate the complexities of this relationship and the manner by which genomes within metaorganisms interact and affect one another. Interindividual variations in the

microbiome impact multiple human pathologies, from metabolic syndrome to cancer (Cho and Blaser, 2012). However, new datain invertebrate systems indicate that microbes extend their effects beyond host pathology to systemic modulation of the rate of aging.

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