A little bacteria may be good for your health

A man-made version of bacterial DNA allowed mice to fight off aform of inflammatory bowel disease, researchers report in a newstudy.

The findings give more support to the idea that a certain amountof bacterial exposure may be needed for animals and humans to remainhealthy.

"We've shown that synthetic bacterial DNA prompts the immunesystem to safely respond to the onset of inflammatory bowel disease,"said Dr. Eyal Raz, an associate professor of medicine at theUniversity of California-San Diego and senior author of the study inthe May issue of the journal Gastroenterology, published today.

"Previous studies have shown the beneficial effects of bacterialDNA in …