Among New York Subway’s Millions of Riders, a Study Finds Many Mystery Microbes
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College released a study on Thursday that mapped DNA found in New Yorks subway system a crowded, largely subterranean behemoth that carries 5.5 million riders in an average week, and is filled with hundreds of species of bacteria (mostly harmless), the occasional spot of bubonic plague, and a universe of enigmas. Almost half of the DNA found on the systems surfaces did not match any known organism and just 0.2 percent matched the human genome.
People dont look at a subway pole and think, Its teeming with life, said Dr. Christopher E. Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medical College and the lead author of the study. After this study, they may. But I want them to think of it the same way youd look at a rain forest, and be almost in awe and wonder, effectively, that there are all these species present and that youve been healthy all along.
Dr. Mason said the inspiration for the study struck about four years ago when he was dropping off his daughter at day care. He watched her explore her new surroundings by happily popping objects into her mouth. As is the custom among tiny children, friendships were made on the floor, by passing back and forth toys that made their way from one mouth to the next.
I couldnt help thinking, How much is being transferred, and on which kinds of things? Dr. Mason said. So he considered a place where adults can get a little too close to each other, the subway.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/nyregion/among-the-new-york-city-subways-millions-of-riders-a-study-finds-many-mystery-microbes.html?_r=0