Ancient human gut microbiomes resemble rural rather than modern urban lifestyles
In short: Researchers who analyzed ancient human feces, known as coprolites, found that our ancestors' gut bacteria were more similar to those of modern rural communities than to people living in cosmopolitan cities. By sequencing DNA from three different archaeological sites spanning thousands of years, the team was able to map how human microbiomes have shifted over time.
The study compared samples from caves and mummies in the United States, Chile, and Mexico against various modern sources, including soil, compost, and gut samples from rural and urban populations. The results suggest that the transition to a cosmopolitan lifestyle has caused a significant shift in human microbial composition.
The research relied on pyrosequencing 16S rDNA from duplicate coprolite samples. A limitation of this study is that it relies on historical comparisons to modern sources, which may not perfectly mirror the specific environmental conditions of the past.
Why it matters: Our ancestors' gut bacteria were more like those of today's rural residents, highlighting how much urban life has altered our internal biology.
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Sources
- Source: Research: Tito et al. (2012). Insights from Characterizing Extinct Human Gut Microbiomes. PLoS ONE. · cc-by
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