After spending 18 months swabbing surfaces is every subway station in New York City, scientists have been able to identify and map out bacteria and microbes around the city as part of the first genetic profiling of a metropolitan transit system, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The big data project that combines microbiology, genomics and population genetics can help researchers learn more about the people using public transportation and may have huge implications for population health.
Using DNA gathered from benches, railings, ticket kiosks and turnstiles at the subway's 466 open stations, microbiologists may be able to track disease outbreaks, detect bioterrorism attacks and fight antibiotic resistance among microbes, according to the report.
"We know next to nothing about the ecology of urban environments," evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen told the Wall Street Journal. "How will we know if there is something abnormal if we don't know what normal is?"
The team involved in the project detected more than 15,000 types of life forms, almost half of the DNA of which belonged to bacteria. They were also able to identify 562 species of bacteria, most of which were benign or low risk and 67 of which are associated with illness or food preparation, according to the report.
DNA associated with the following bacteria and microbes are just a few of the identified DNA at subway stations: a multidrug-resistant bacterium called Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, anthrax DNA, E. coli., Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that causes bubonic plague and DNA related to strep infections and urinary tract infections.
Despite some of the alarming DNA found, researchers assured the public that the findings do not suggest that NYC residents are at risk.
Scientists studying urban microbiology hope to find ways to design buildings that foster beneficial bacteria and eliminate practices that create living conditions for harmful germs, according to the report.
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