Scientists have developed an atlas of the bacteria that live in different regions of the human body.
Some of the microbes help keep us healthy by playing a key role in physiological functions.
The University of Colorado at Boulder team found unexpectedly wide variations in bacterial communities from person to person, the BBC reports.
The researchers hope their work, published in Science Express, will eventually aid clinical research.
They say that it might one day be possible to identify sites on the human body where transplants of specific microbes could benefit health.
The study was based on an intensive analysis of the bacteria found at 27 separate sites on the bodies of nine healthy volunteers.
