Back in 2020, [microbiologist Gavin] Thomas and his colleagues found that one critter on the skin, called Staphylococcus hominis, produces an especially pungent odor: “We’ve had people describe it as kind of an onion smell or a cheesy onion smell,” he says. “These types of compounds do smell pretty bad.”
These bacteria – and their relatives – actually do something really good for you and your skin. In fact, you need these bacteria.
“Without S. hominins, you’re in trouble,” says dermatologist Richard Gallo at the University of California, San Diego.
Over the past five years, Gallo, Teruaki Nakatsuji and their colleagues have published a series of studies showing how S. hominins actually protects our skin from inflammatory problems, such as eczema, and dangerous infections, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
The team has even developed a cream, made with the bacteria and tested in preliminary trials, as a treatment for eczema.
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“S. hominins basically make a type of antibiotic, which specifically targets the bacteria that causes MRSA,” Gallo says. “And it kills this bacteria by punching holes in its cell membrane.”
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So the next time you’re hot, sticky and maybe a bit stinky, before you hit the shower, take a moment to thank your sweat – and the bacteria that eat it – for helping to keep your skin healthy and safe.
