Health · Medical Research · 12 hrs ago
Tsimane and Hadza share gut bacteria rarely found in industrialized populations
Researchers compared gut bacteria in the Tsimane, who live in the Bolivian Amazon, and the Hadza, who live in northern Tanzania.
They found that 1,231 of the 1,408 bacterial species identified in Tsimane samples also appeared in earlier Hadza data.
Many of these shared species are rare or absent in people from industrialized countries.
The researchers examined bacterial strains, which are slightly different versions of a species, to see whether the groups had picked up the bacteria recently or shared them through older ancestry.
In most cases, strains from the two communities did not appear to have shared a recent ancestor within roughly the past 5,000 years, suggesting they changed separately over time.
The findings point to a long history of some gut bacteria being passed between generations.
Scientists want to learn which microbes have disappeared from industrialized populations and whether that loss affects health.
A study found that the Tsimane in Bolivia and the Hadza in Tanzania share many gut bacterial species rarely found in industrialized populations.
Of 1,408 species identified in Tsimane samples, 1,231 also appeared in earlier Hadza data.
Researchers said 848 of those shared species were rare or absent in people from industrialized countries.
Most of the bacterial strains examined showed no sign of recent sharing between the two communities.
The findings support the possibility that some gut bacteria were passed down from shared ancestors over thousands of years.
- Who
- Researchers led by Stanford University microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg studied gut bacteria in the Tsimane and Hadza communities.
- What
- The study found many matching gut bacterial species in both groups, including species rare or absent in industrialized populations.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-10-11. The study date is not stated.
- Where
- The Tsimane live in the Bolivian Amazon, and the Hadza live in northern Tanzania.
- Why
- Researchers compared the groups to investigate whether some gut bacteria have been passed down through human generations and to understand which microbes are missing from industrialized populations.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
No direct quotes in the coverage so far.
Researchers collected 133 stool samples from 85 Tsimane people.
The team assembled 12,746 microbial genomes from the Tsimane samples.
Researchers compared the Tsimane data with earlier data from 137 Hadza people.
The team examined 636 species with enough DNA information from both communities for comparison.
- Tsimane samples
- 133 samples from 85 people
- Microbial genomes
- 12,746 assembled from Tsimane samples
- Shared species
- 1,231 of 1,408 Tsimane species also appeared in Hadza data
- Rare or absent species
- 848 shared species were rare or absent in industrialized populations
- Strain comparison
- 636 species had enough DNA information from both communities
Sources
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