Microbial Cloud around You

We leave hints of bacteria on all that we touch-keyboard, cell phone, water cups, however, physical contact isn’t the only way to make a microbial mark. People shed swarms of microscopic organisms that linger in the space around them, making a “microbial cloud”.

Published in Peer J, the new study revealed that such cloud of bacteria may be totally unique to each person., just like a microbial fingerprint. Before came to this conclusion, scientists have conducted two experiments in which they placed people in test in a sanitized room and surrounded them with rings of petri dishes. To catch the floating microbes, they suspended air filters. As comparison, another room is humanless but otherwise identical. They compared the samples captured from the two rooms and found that the two species were microbially distinct. Then, another question came into being: if a person’s microbial can set two rooms apart, can it set two people apart? The answer was yes in six of the participants.

Furthermore, the researchers sequenced the microbial cloud samples and found that many of the participants have the same bacteria in their cloud, but in different concentrations. As for how far our microbial cloud can extend, the researchers were not sure. But they estimated that the cloud float within a 90 centimeter radius, suggesting that there’s a high chance that our microbial cloud will mingle in any semicrowded space like in a subway.

So , can you imagine that, a microbial cloud around you?

Edited by Creative BioMart.