Possibly, he is an old companion of humanity, but until now his existence was unknown . As a group of researchers from San Diego State University just made public in Nature Communications , half of us harbor the crAssphage virus in our intestines , named after the computer program that has found it.
This microorganism, which has 10 times more DNA base pairs than the AIDS virus, infects a very large group of intestinal bacteria : Bacteroidetes, which appear to play an important role in the mechanisms of human obesity.
Scientists hope that the discovery of crAssphage will help not only fight morbid overweight, but also serve to prevent or cure other disorders associated with the digestive system such as diabetes.
The fact that bacteriophage virus DNA has been detected in the stool samples of about 50% of individuals suggests that it is at least as old as Homo sapiens itself. It has also been shown that it does not appear in newborns , so it is probably acquired during childhood.
