Humans carry their own personal cloud of bacteria wherever they go. (Photo : Pixabay)
Humans apparently carry around a personal "cloud" of microbes that are truly unique to each individual where scientists believe that this can be similarly used like a fingerprint for identification.
Scientists already know about how humans carry and harbor a population of microbes that is beneficial for the skin and the gastrointestinal system known as a microbial colony or a microbiome. Now, a new study reveals that people emit some sort of haze or cloud of microbes wherever they go according to researchers from the University of Oregon.
During the experiments, researchers discovered that they can identify certain individuals by the air samples they took from a sealed chamber that the person stayed in, just by determining the composition of their bacterial cloud they left behind.
According to author of the study, James F. Meadow from the University of Oregon's Biology and the Built Environment Center, the team already expected that they can detect a human microbiome from the air wafting around a person however, they were surprised that they can identify most occupants just by sampling from their microbial cloud.
Researchers also identified and determined the study's 11 participants and their microbiomes inside the sanitized chamber right after four hours from their distinct bacterial compositions that were left behind.
Scientists then conducted a genetic sequencing from 312 samples of air and dust where they found out thousands of types of bacteria from the chambers which they were able to identify from each participant's microbiome.
There were several bacterial groups that have been identified as common to humans which are Streptococcus, usually found inside the mouth, skin bacteria such as Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium and a variety of combinations and percentages in bacteria samples that are each distinct to identifying a person.
The researchers concluded that these results confirm that an occupied space possesses a microbial distinct signature as opposed to an unoccupied one where this marks the first study to determine that individuals apparently release their own personalized microbial cloud.
Scientists also believe that this study can gain a better understanding of how infectious diseases can spread themselves especially in closed environments. This new study is published in the journal Peer J.
