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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

Sometimes a bit of bacteria can be just what the doctor ordered. If you prize yogurt for its “active cultures,” you know what I’m talking about. Now a new study, published in the September 21st online issue of Nature, suggests that good bugs¹ might even hold diabetes² at bay. Type I diabetes is caused by an immune system malfunction³. Basically, the immune cells that usually chase after bacteria instead attack the pancreas, wiping out the cells that produce insulin. So researchers decided⁴ to see what would happen if they reigned⁵ in the immune response in mice that are prone⁶ to diabetes.

As expected, they found that the animals were less likely to develop the disease. But the effect depended entirely⁷ on the critters having a normal complement⁸ of friendly bacteria in their intestine⁹. Mice that were raised in a totally sterile¹⁰, germ-free environment were rampant¹¹ diabetics. But simply treating those mice with a cocktail¹² of bugs found in most mammals’ bellies¹³ cured the disease. How bacteria in the intestine can stave off diabetes is not yet clear. But the finding could lead to some interesting new treatments. In the meantime, remember that we can't live without the stuff that lives in us.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.