Deine Freunde formen dein Mikrobiom – und ihre Freunde auch. Je mehr Menschen interagieren, desto ähnlicher ist die Zusammensetzung ihres Darmmikrobioms. Menschen, die im selben Haus leben, teilen sich bis zu 13,9 %, aber auch Menschen, die kein gemeinsames Dach haben, aber regelmäßig ihre Freizeit gemeinsam verbringen, teilen sich 10 %.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08222-1

Abstract

When humans assemble into face-to-face social networks, they create an extended social environment that permits exposure to the microbiome of others, thereby shaping the composition and diversity of the microbiome at individual and population levels1,2,3,4,5,6. Here we use comprehensive social network mapping and detailed microbiome sequencing data in 1,787 adults within 18 isolated villages in Honduras7 to investigate the relationship between network structure and gut microbiome composition. Using both species-level and strain-level data, we show that microbial sharing occurs between many relationship types, notably including non-familial and non-household connections. Furthermore, strain-sharing extends to second-degree social connections, suggesting the relevance of a person’s broader network. We also observe that socially central people are more microbially similar to the overall village than socially peripheral people. Among 301 people whose microbiome was re-measured 2 years later, we observe greater convergence in strain-sharing in connected versus otherwise similar unconnected co-villagers. Clusters of species and strains occur within clusters of people in village social networks, meaning that social networks provide the social niches within which microbiome biology and phenotypic impact are manifested.

From the linked article:

Your friends shape your microbiome — and so do their friends

A shared meal, a kiss on the cheek: these social acts bring people together — and bring their microbiomes together, too. The more people interact, the more similar the make-up of their gut microorganisms is, even if individuals don’t live in the same household, a study1 shows.

The study also found that a person’s microbiome is shaped not only by their social contacts but also by the social contacts’ connections. The work is one of several studies4 that raise the possibility that health conditions can be shaped by the transmission of the microbiome between individuals, not just by diet and other environmental factors that affect gut flora.

Spouses and individuals living in the same house share up to 13.9% of the microbial strains in their guts, but even people who don’t share a roof but habitually spend free time together share 10%, the researchers found. By contrast, people who live in the same village but who don’t tend to spend time together share only 4%. There is also evidence of transmission chains — friends of friends share more strains than would be expected by chance.

Is this people going to the bathroom one after another?

Would be interesting to study prison guards or subway/meri workers who are in close contact with some nasty biomes