When insightful research sequenced DNA from microorganisms derived from our armpits, belly buttons, and other locations, it revealed minuscule versions of ecosystems, like the Alps, composed of trillions of microbes. In their entirety, this indiscernible cluster of organisms is our microbiome. Research estimates that they make up as much as five kg of our body weight. A vast majority of human microbiomes, comprising of 10 trillion to 100 trillion cells and thousands of other species, also include over eight million unique gene types. As most of us would know, bacteria produce essential vitamins, natural body chemicals, such as anti-inflammatories and other compounds that 'power' our metabolism by breaking down food. Though they encompass most of our microbiome framework, it was only recently that we delved into studying them in-depth and understanding as to what exactly they were doing, albeit such a barely perceptible mass has, in all probability, evolved since the beginning of time. Research suggests that it is probable that our microbiome protects us from illnesses too. When its equilibrium is disturbed, it may most likely trigger them. Proponents of the herbicide glyphosate would certainly not agree. This is because they would argue that it is not as toxic as the wonder drug aspirin, for instance, even if one has a strong case against the latter. From the research point-of-view, glyphosate is not well absorbed by our digestive tract - more than 98 per cent of it passes right through us. Furthermore, its manner of action encompasses a biochemical progression that is specific to microorganisms and plants. This is known as the 'shikimate pathway' - which we human beings lack. Picture this - glyphosate is evidenced to get into water and affect aquatic life, leading to a dreadful loss of amphibians, the guardians of our ecosystem. This is the fringe since the damage to soil that glyphosate can cause is manifold, aside from its deleterious effects on useful soil microbes, as also interference on the natural growth of plants, including those that are genetically-modified (GM) to resist the herbicide. Wait a minute. When you add a contentious body of independent, new research conducted in the US, and elsewhere, you are witness to an alarming prospect - that glyphosate may trigger abortion and sterility in farm animals. What next? We are not sure yet. Other research studies implicate, likewise, that glyphosate may be just as toxic to human placental cells, especially in farm workers exposed to high concentrations. This is not all. Studies in Europe have found that glyphosate levels in human urine exceeded 'safe drinking water' limits. All the same, advocates of the herbicide insist that farmers do not use 'pure' glyphosate anyway - they also argue that there are far more toxic ingredients than glyphosate used in the world today. The 'counter-punch' is - there are certain indubitable reasons why more and more people are being exposed to the dangers of glyphosate. It is a different thing that research cannot disrupt, or tweak, our metabolic process. What actually wobbles such a process are microbes - in addition, we may be harming our inner biological canvas with other powerful gut, or intestinal, herbicides whose deleterious effects have not been fully understood, or established. As research grapples with newer herbicides and pesticides and explores the idea, the jury is out that glyphosate may also exterminate several species of beneficial, or 'good,' gut bacteria, while not affecting harmful, or 'bad,' gut bacteria like E coli - the cause of epidemics in cattle. One shudders to think of the likely impact the same bacteria, which have colonised the human species, may possibly instigate. Our gut bacteria play a key role in maintaining our health and wellness. On the contrary, an unhealthy microbiome may 'trigger' obesity and inflammatory diseases of the gut, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). New research also points out to a potential long-list of health disorders that glyphosate, in combination with other environmental toxins, could contribute to - viz., depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - also referred to as motor neurone disease - multiple sclerosis, infertility, developmental defects, cancer, and so on. It is, therefore, imperative, in the whole context, that we warily took a fresh, new look at the origin of our food. Conventionally-produced vegetarian produce and animal products are often grown, or fed, from farming practices that make use of factory-farmed manure and raw human sewage. The fact today is animal and human excreta are extraordinarily toxic. They apparently include a vast array of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, not to speak of pathogens that 'taint' our food and also our bodies - when we opt to eat them, which we do because of certain compulsions. Take a look at another risky proposition - the use of nuclear waste-based food irradiation and 'bacteriophage' sprays, to typically disinfect toxic food. This produces diverse and far more unsafe compounds as a result. All the same, there's another paradox that dawdles us - non-organic lobbies are increasing the amounts of anti-microbial herbicides and pesticides in our food. What is worse - we do not have adequate data as to the extent we're exposed to such chemicals. Yet another downside is glyphosate, to pick the classical example again, is a difficult customer to 'test' for. The fact also remains that many farmers have embraced glyphosate's genetically-modified (GM) seeds with alacrity. In the US alone, it is estimated that over 1.8 billion kg of glyphosate - which initially began to sell as Roundup, with its principal active ingredient obviously being glyphosate in 1974 - has been sprayed on fields and farms. And, the usage is expanding just as rapidly. If this does not echo a distress call, or formula for disaster, what else can? Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher, and author