The human face microbiome is unique compared to other hominids

A skin microbiome comparative study analyzing the human facial skin microbiome compared to chimpanzee and gorilla facial skin microbiomes, leveraging shotgun and 16S sequencing to compare microbial taxonomy and function. We found that the human facial skin microbiome is markedly less diverse and taxonomically distinct compared to their close relatives. We also found Cutibacterium acnes was unique to humans and likely acquired recently rather than being conserved across primate evolution.