Since we are covered (inside and out) with microscopic life which in many cases help us to live, such as in our gut, is it still possible for a human being to survive without a microbiome? It wouldn’t be possible to create a human lacking one in the presence of life on Earth obviously, but if a space craft was perfectly decontaminated and contained a human zygote with everything necessary to bring it to term in an artificial womb and then be ‘born’ (plus robotic care etc etc), could that human survive in a biological sense? Would it just require a specific diet to get around the lack of digestive assistance?
In: Biology
Not really. Your gut biome is a big part of how you digest many foods, and the good bacteria in your gut and on your skin play a huge role in protecting you from worse bacteria and fungi. We have a symbiotic relationship with them that is mutually beneficial/necessary. Some people receive fecal bacteria transplants if theirs is wiped out by radiation therapy for example, to help rebuild their immune systems.
There’s a lot of research now that our gut biome does more than digest food – it may play a huge role in our brain chemistry as well, with some studies that show an off kilter biome may cause imbalances relating to depression and anxiety among other things. I’m not a biologist or other expert, so someone else could probably give more precise explanation.
Depending on what you eat, yes. However, you may suffer from substantial gastrointestinal issues due to certain foods not being broken down properly during digestions. You could, of course, be fed intravenously and bypass the digestive tract entirely in order to avoid those issues. But intravenous feeding has a lot more complications and could cause a number of issues (like elevated blood sugars) if it is not done properly.
Latest Answers