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. 2016 Jan 28;164(3):337-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.01.013.

Are We Really Vastly Outnumbered? Revisiting the Ratio of Bacterial to Host Cells in Humans

Ron Sender  1 , Shai Fuchs  2 , Ron Milo  3
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Free article

Are We Really Vastly Outnumbered? Revisiting the Ratio of Bacterial to Host Cells in Humans

Ron Sender et al. Cell. .
Free article

Abstract

It is often presented as common knowledge that, in the human body, bacteria outnumber human cells by a ratio of at least 10:1. Revisiting the question, we find that the ratio is much closer to 1:1.

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