An international team of researchers led by the Canadian microbiologist and Professor Brett Finlay of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research of the „Humans & the Microbiome“ program, CIFAR for short, has come up with a new hypothesis that investigates whether various diseases that were previously considered noncommunicable can possibly be transmitted from person to person. The conclusion of the scientists is that the assumption that this might be the case cannot be ruled out. According to the hypothesis, diseases such as heart disease, diabetes or obesity, but also cancer, could be transmitted to other people. Tiny microorganisms in a person’s body such as bacteria, but also viruses and fungi, collectively referred to as microbiomes, could transmit these diseases to close relatives and family members, for example. Until now, it was thought that genetics, the individual’s lifestyle and environmental factors must be the trigger for these various diseases. However, the research work of the international team, also involving the German Professor Thomas Bosch, shows a different result, which still needs to be examined in detail in further studies. This microbiome, which everyone has in the body and which accelerates important vital processes in the body, may also be responsible for the transmission of diseases that were not considered infectious. The exchange of the microbiome, for better or for worse, would be triggered by close human coexistence, provided that social contacts and living together are maintained. The scientists‘ hypothesis is supported by three findings: sick people, in contrast to healthy people, show a significantly altered microbiome and an altered microbiome can also make a healthy organism sick, as shown by animal experiments with mice, according to the researchers‘ assumption based on various results of studies. In addition, freshwater polyps also reveal microbial transmission from one individual to another. The potential transmission pathways, but also the exact mechanisms, need to be investigated in detail in further studies because they are still unknown.
