Staphylococcus epidermidis, one of the many species the researchers identified from the participants' samples.WIKIMEDIA, NIAID
The human skin microbiome has received increasing attention, but a new study has found that people are also surrounded by their own personal clouds of microbes in the air. In a paper published yesterday (September 22) in PeerJ, researchers from the University of Oregon and their colleagues reported that some individuals could be uniquely identified by the combination of bacteria in the air surrounding them.
The team asked 11 participants to sit in a sterilized, climate-controlled chamber for up to four hours. Surrounding the participants were Petri dishes and suspended air filters designed to catch the microbes each individual emitted. After the study period, the researchers sequenced the DNA in these samples to categorize the microbial communities for each person. The combinations of bacteria in ...
