Do you ever think about where you leave your DNA? Here’s one place you may not have considered
Do you ever think about where you leave your DNA? Here’s one place you may not have considered: an ATM. NYU researchers took swabs from 66 ATMs around Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, and found that the keypads on automated teller machines reveal traces of microbes from human skin as well as from food and household surfaces like kitchens, pillows, and yes, bathrooms. This means that ATMs are a great source for mapping the city’s DNA.From Science Daily:“Our results suggest that ATM keypads integrate microbes from different sources, including the human microbiome, foods, and potentially novel environmental organisms adapted to air or surfaces,“ explains senior study author Jane Carlton, director of the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and professor of biology at NYU. "DNA obtained from ATM keypads may therefore provide a record of both human behavior and environmental sources of microbes.”In addition, researchers found that certain biomarkers were more common depending on where the ATM was located, such as more Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria) found in laundromat ATMs, while Xeromyces bisporus, found in spoiled baked goods, appeared most often in Manhattan. Because so many people use these ATMs daily, scientists are confident that these keypads represent an “average” microbial community, one that reflects both environmental and urban contact.It also means you might want to wash your hands the next time you take out some cash. Read more at Science Daily. -- source link
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