Long considered a source of odor and embarrassment, the humble armpit may be coming up in the world. On the microbial level, a person's underarms are akin to lush rain forests brimming with diversityand that's a good thingaccording to a new "topographic map" of human skin.

Most of our skin is like an arid desert, said study co-author Julia Segre, of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

"But as you walk through this desert you encounter an oasis, which is the inside of your nose," she said. "You encounter a stream, which is a moist crease. [These] areas are like habitats rich in diversity."

And like the "friendly" bugs in the human digestive system, these native bacteria of the epidermis promote skin health and could even help scientists find new ways to treat skin diseases.

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