title: Are We Really Vastly Outnumbered? Revisiting the Ratio of Bacterial to Host Cells in Humans.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sender
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel. Electronic address: shai.fuchs@sickkids.ca.
authors.forename: Shai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel. Electronic address: ron.milo@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Milo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001835:Body Weight; D002452:Cell Count; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D013559:Symbiosis