clipped from: news.nationalgeographic.com

Humans Wear Diverse "Wardrobe" of Skin Microbes, Study Finds

High magnification reveals a host of bacteria underneath a human toenail.

A new analysis has shown that the billions of bacteria that inhabit human skin are not only highly diverse but also change their composition over time. Understanding how and why the microbes change could lead to better treatments from chronic skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema.

clipped from: news.nationalgeographic.com

The billions of microscopic critters that cloak your skin are a bit like fashionable threads—the ones you're wearing today may be out by next season.

That's the implication of a new study, which identified more than 240 distinct microbes on the forearms of six healthy people.

Each person's "wardrobe" of germs seems to be as unique as his or her sense of style. No two volunteers had all the same microbes on their flesh, though they did have some overlap, said study leader Martin J. Blaser.