Here’s where bacteria live on your tongue cells

Mapping how bacteria are grouped together may reveal how they maintain their environment

Tongue-dwelling bacteria

Tongue-dwelling bacteria (different types labeled with different colors) form a thick film around a human tongue cell (gray structure at center).

S. Wilbert et al/Cell Reports 2020

Myriad microbes dwell on human tongues — and scientists have now gotten a glimpse at the neighborhoods that bacteria build for themselves.