Your Lungs Are Full Of Microorganisms … And That’s A Good Thing

Health and Medicine





Photo credit:

An example of the types of bugs that may be calling your lungs home. www.shutterstock.com

When we’re born, our lungs are thought to be sterile. But from the moment we take our first breath, our pristine lungs are exposed to all the bugs that are in the air. It has become clear in the last 10 years that the lungs rapidly acquire a population of many different microorganisms (mostly bacteria and viruses) that colonise the lungs and remain with us for the rest of our lives. This population of bugs is called the lung microbiome.