We are continuously leaving behind traces of bacteria from our skin and hair that could potentially identify us as individuals. Researchers from the University of Oregon have now found that even the air we exhale could actually be an identifying indicator of who’s who.
What’s being called a “microbial cloud” could reportedly be enough to separate you from the person next to you.
“We expected that we would be able to detect the human microbiome in the air around a person,” explained James Meadow, who led the study, published in PeerJ, “but we were surprised to find that we could identify most of the occupants just by sampling their microbial cloud.”
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The researchers found that within four hours of analyzing the particulates in the air and examining the combinations of bacteria they could actually identify who was who within the participants.
Eleven participants were involved in the analysis. They each sat in a sanitized experimental chamber where air was being filtered so that all bacteria and particulates emitted by the subjects could be trapped. The researchers then analyzed what they found – sequencing the DNA.
From a four hour period, they reported over 14 million sequences representing thousands of different types of bacteria emitted from the participants. Further analysis revealed that “samples from each individual were statistically distinct and identifiable to that occupant.” For example, one subject had significant levels of the bacteria Dolosigranulum pigrum present in their cloud, whereas this was absent from others, while another’s cloud was dominated by Streptococcus.
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Apparently the researchers believe such an individual signature just from breath emitted could be advantageous when it comes to monitoring the spread of infectious diseases or even with forensics.
Photo: Flickr user Loren Kerns