A team of researchers at Stanford University discovered objects they named “obelisks” in the human mouth and gut. The obelisks are microscopic, circular bits of genetic material that contain one or two genes. They self-organize into a rod-like shape, which is how they got their name. Obelisks are surprisingly common in the human microbiome – the community of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and their genes that live in our bodies. The function of obelisks is a mystery, and they may represent an entirely new class of life. However, they could hold the key to understanding life itself, and as research continues, we may learn more about how they impact our health and their origins. The fact that we can make surprising discoveries of potentially new types of Earth life – or perhaps just especially unusual ones – inside our own bodies – after decades of study – speaks to the unexpected diversity of life on our own world, and it certainly serves as a reminder of what vast varieties of life may await us on other worlds.
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