The Microbiota and the Human Digestive Tract

The microbiome aids our digestion and nutritional health in two major ways. It makes building blocks of larger biomolecules that we are unable to synthesize. Intestinal bugs also produce fatty acids, a major source of fuel for organisms big and microscopically small. The microbiota plays an essential role in the development of the immune system. In germ-free mice, the inflammatory milieu produced by the immune system tends to be skewed towards a type 2 response.