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Museum Of Natural History Exposes Visitors To 'The Secret World Inside You'

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- A new exhibit wants to change the way people think about bacteria, viruses, and other microbes.

On Friday, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock went into "The Secret World Inside You."

Microbes, things like bacteria and viruses, are the focus of the American Museum of Natural History's newest exhibit.

There are more microbes in your body then their are in the Milky Way galaxy, put them all together and they'd weigh about the same as your brain.

"Believe it or not, those microbes have a huge impact on you and that's what this exhibition is all about," Rob Desalle, Curator, American Museum of Natural History.

Desalle believes finding out more about them will change healthcare and medicine in the next 5 years.

"That will shift medicine from 'let's just kill these things' to 'let's understand these microbes and how they interact with us,'" he said.

An interactive tour of the body gives visitors a better understanding of why and how microbes work. The answers to questions about morning breath and how the body fights athletes foot, can all be found in the exhibit.

"I find it fascinating," Dina Linde said.

Visitors learned that their pillowcase harbors similar bacteria to their toilet seats, and that their hand hold more bacteria than there are people on the planet.

There's even a video game that could change the way you eat.

Feeding the computer processed foods will result in a losing score, but the impact can be seen when you pump in healthy choices like avocados.

"The food you eat has an impact on the microbes in your gut, and those then have an impact on how you behave, how you feel," Desalle said.

Your body is bustling with bacteria, viruses and other microbes, and that can be a good thing.

The exhibit is scheduled to open on Saturday.

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