How is bacteria beneficial to humans?
by 
deandrelover18
ANSWERS: 5
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The good keeps the bad under control - we hope. Few things are all good or all bad - here too a balance is needed.
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I found this on Wikipedia: Many bacteria are found as symbionts in humans and other organisms. For example, the presence of over 1,000 bacterial species in the normal human gut flora of the intestines can contribute to gut immunity, synthesise vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin K and biotin, convert milk protein to lactic acid (see Lactobacillus), as well as fermenting complex undigestible carbohydrates. The presence of this gut flora also inhibits the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria (usually through competitive exclusion) and these beneficial bacteria are consequently sold as probiotic dietary supplements. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria#Mutualists
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Bacteria are absolutely everywhere and are, biologically speaking, the most successful kingdom of life. The exact number of species is unknown, but probably numbers in the millions. In the human body there are actually more bacterial cells than there are human cells. So to some extent, what we think of as "us", is really more of a bacterial community with us as a framework. Bacteria live everywhere in and on us and many serve useful purposes. For example, the most commonly though of benefit is in the digestive tract. Bacteria in our guts actually help us digest food more completely. As well, the population of bacteria in our body actually keeps us healthy by keeping away microorganisms that are harmful to us. They do this because they are well adapted to living with us and essentially out-compete other organisms that might make you ill. The fact of the matter is that without bacteria we wouldn't just die, we simply wouldn't exist.
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Some produce anti-virals.
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Without bacteria, evolution (and humans) would not exist.
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