The disgusting truth about germs on public transport

[lurch234]

The disgusting truth about germs on public transport

 

Humans aren't the only creatures moving on the public transport network. Bacteria are also riding the city's roads and rails. Which raises the question: what bacterial passenger did you pick up when you grabbed the handrail this morning?

The short answer is we don't know. But we could soon find out.

 

It's not just people aboard trains. Photo: Ken Irwin

 

An international consortium of scientists and volunteers led by researchers in America are in the process of developing a snapshot of the bacteria found aboard a city's public transport network.

Monash University science student Andrew Gray, who led the Melbourne team, likened the project to each city taking a "selfie of its microbiome", or bacterial ecosystem.

To create Melbourne's selfie, scientists and volunteers sampled seven train stations including South Yarra, Flinders Street, Southern Cross, Melbourne Central and North Melbourne on June 21.

 

Monash University science undergraduate student Andrew Gray collects samples of bacteria in Brunswick. Photo: Eddie Jim

 

To make Sydney's selfie, scientists and volunteers took samples from train stations including Circular Quay, Central, Wynyard and Town Hall on June 21.

Similar sampling taken in New York's subway found that of the human bacterial DNA identified, 32 per cent was associated with the gastrointestinal tract and 29 per cent skin. Another 20 per cent was associated with the genital area, largely a result of people not washing their hands properly after going to the bathroom and... wait for it... farting.

 

 

While it sounds grim, computational geneticist and lead investigator on the international project Christopher Mason said most of the bacteria detected were harmless.

A staggering 48 per cent of the genetic data collected in New York did not match any known organism, illustrating how vast and unknown the microbiome is.

"We really know very little about the bacteria that surround us," Mr Gray said.

To shed light on the matter in Melbourne, scientists joined forces with citizen scientists to swab the infrastructure around key transport hubs, including benches, vending machines, handrails, escalators and bike racks near stations. Temperature and humidity measurements were also taken at each site.

The swabs were placed in a tube containing a solution designed to keep the bacteria alive but dormant.

 

Mr Gray with bacteria samples at a lab in Brunswick. Photo: Eddie Jim

 

The Melbourne samples, currently stored in a freezer at a Brunswick community science laboratory, will be sent to Fudan University in Shanghai, China, where the bacteria's DNA will be sequenced. Results, which will be posted on the MetaSUB website, should be available within six months.

Melbourne and Sydney are among 58 cities to participate in the study, which is run out of New York's Cornell University and partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The aim of the experiment is to understand what types of bacteria live and move around on public transport and to establish if there are any common patterns between cities. The annual survey will give researchers an insight into how bacteria evolve, how they move through cities and ultimately how to combat pandemics.

"Bacteria are really good at evolving; they evolve really fast," Mr Gray said. "So this will give us an insight into how they evolve and hopefully enable us to stay one step ahead."

There is also the potential to design new drugs or approaches to containing disease outbreaks, mapping antibacterial resistance and even developing new techniques to monitor bioterrorism.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/the-disgusting-truth-about-germs-on-public-transport-20160627-gpsw2x.html

 

[straycat19]

These germs have been around for thousands of years and because they have been our systems build up an immunity to them.  On the other hand once you start applying antibiotics and super cleanliness you either cause the germs to mutate or lose your natural immunity.  Neither of which is good for the human population.