Solved cryptogram
Something like half the cells you carry around are bacteria rather than human cells at all.
Biology Facts, sourced to PLOS Biology.
What it means
The old claim was ten bacterial cells to every human one, and a careful recount in 2016 put the ratio far nearer to one to one, with the exact figure shifting after every visit to the bathroom. Either way the number is startling, and the bacteria are not passengers: they digest fiber, make vitamins and train the immune system.
The claim comes from PLOS Biology, and the page it comes from was read on 2026-08-27 to confirm it still says this.
This one can change, so it is due to be checked again by 2028-06-01.
Solve it yourself
This fact is a cryptogram here: 75 letters over 19 different ones, graded medium.
- SourcePLOS Biology
- CollectionBiology Facts
- Difficultymedium
- Length75 letters, 19 of them different
Nearby in the collection
The facts either side of this one.
- NCBI Bookshelfmedium, 79 letters
- NCBI Bookshelfeasy, 71 letters
- NIAMShard, 76 letters
- NCBI Bookshelfmedium, 77 letters
About as hard as this one
Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.
- National Human Genome Research Institutehard, 67 letters
- NIDDKhard, 74 letters
- NIDCDhard, 74 letters
- Royal Society of Chemistryhard, 70 letters