Oral Bacteria Varieties Connected to Ethnicity
  • 10 years ago
Everyone has a microbiome made up of trillions of bacteria that live on their bodies. According to a new study from researchers at Ohio State University, a person's genetics dictate what kinds of bacterial organisms are living in their mouth.

Everyone has a microbiome made up of trillions of bacteria that live on their bodies.

According to a new study from researchers at Ohio State University, a person's genetics dictate what kinds of bacterial organisms are living in their mouth.

By examining which bacteria were living in the mouths of 192 volunteer subjects, researchers found a total of 398 different species of bacteria.

The average person has 149 kinds of bacteria living in their mouth.

No two subjects had exactly the same variety of bacteria living in their mouth, but people of the same ethnic background reportedly had similar species of bacteria growing underneath their gums.

Food that the subjects ate appeared to not have an effect on the kinds of bacteria that live in the subject's mouths.

According to the results of the study, the subject's genetic background was the most apparent correlation to the variety of bacteria growing in their mouth.

Researchers developed a way to predict a person's ethnicity based on the kind of bacteria in their mouth.

The model had a 62 percent rate of accuracy, correctly identifying African-Americans 100 percent of the time and Latinos 67 percent of the time.
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