Bacteria are us?

I read this article recently: People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid
and it got me thinking, if higher organisms are in such a tight symbiotic relationship with bacteria, what would happen if you grew something in a totally sterile environment (assuming this is possible)? Would the organism develop naturally or would it be some kind of monster?

One thing that seems clear is that our ideas about evolution are most likely too simplistic since we view it as a process affecting species in isolation. If we are really superorganisms in a symbiotic relationship to bacteria, the process of evolution must be more complex. Of course, all this leads to the Gaia hypothesis- that the Earth is a superorganism. In this superorganism the bacteria would act like the blood and nerves, tying everything together.