Human skin hosts a huge, diverse population of bacteria that changes based on local skin conditions such as dry, moist and oily.

Such findings come out of the Human Microbiome Project, which involves researchers working to genetically identify the vast swarm of microbes living in and on the human body. Part of the project focuses on the human skin.

The latest study discovered a wide array of bacteria at 20 separate skin sites, depending on the local skin's "ecosystem," said Julia Segre, a molecular biologist at the National Human Genome Research Institute and senior author on the research detailed in the May 29 issue of the journal Science.

"We use the analogy that the skin is like a desert with large dry areas, but then there are these streams, or creases of your body," Segre said. "There's much richer bacterial life in the streams."

Disturbances in the bacterial balance can lead to foreign species moving in and possibly contributing to human diseases. But at the same time, researchers hope to figure out how to promote a normal, healthy bacteria population - once they understand what constitutes "normal" and "healthy" in most peopl.

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