You Emit A Personal Microbial Cloud - And It Can Be Traced To You

[Judi Lynn]

You Emit A Personal Microbial Cloud - And It Can Be Traced To You

By News Staff | September 22nd 2015 06:30 AM

We each give off millions of bacteria from our human microbiome to the air around us every day, and that cloud of bacteria can be traced back to an individual. New research focused on the personal microbial cloud -- the airborne microbes we emit into the air -- examined the microbial connection we have with the air around us. The findings demonstrate the extent to which humans possess a unique 'microbial cloud signature.'

To test the individualized nature of the personal microbial cloud, University of Oregon researchers sequenced microbes from the air surrounding 11 different people in a sanitized experimental chamber. The study found that most of the occupants sitting alone in the chamber could be identified within 4 hours just by the unique combinations of bacteria in the surrounding air.

The striking results were driven by several groups of bacteria that are ubiquitous on and in humans, such as Streptococcus, which is commonly found in the mouth, and Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium, both common skin residents. While these common human-associated microbes were detected in the air around all people in the study, the authors found that the different combinations of those bacteria were the key to distinguishing among individual people.

The analyses, utilizing analysis of suspended particulate matter and short-read 16S sequencing, focused on categorizing whole microbial communities rather than identifying pathogens. The findings emerged from two different studies and more than 14 million sequences representing thousands of different types of bacteria found in the 312 samples from air and dust from the experimental chamber.

More:
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/you_emit_a_personal_microbial_cloud_and_it_can_be_traced_to_you-157236

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That's kind of creepy.

I guess we're all like this:

[Javaman]

8. My first thought too!! LOL nt

[BlueJazz]

2. "be identified within 4 hours just by the unique combinations of bacteria in the surrounding air"

Yeah, I've a friend the researchers couldn't be in a room with for 4 minutes on Hot Chili night.

[jakeXT]

3. I wonder if it's connected to chemosignals/pheromones

The existence of pheromones — secreted or excreted chemical signals that produce a social response — in humans has been debated, although research has shown that human sweat communicates information about individual identity, genetic relatedness, emotional states and health status, says Denise Chen, who studies human olfaction at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Mouse tears contain sex-specific pheromones2, but scientists have not previously demonstrated that human crying is a form of chemical signalling. "This work provides really exciting evidence for another source of human chemosignals in tears," says Chen.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110106/full/news.2011.2.html

Other research suggests that pheromones may regulate people’s moods, and that may explain the link—albeit more indirect—to sexual attraction. Wysocki’s lab collected underarm secretions from men and put them on the upper lips of women, who reported feeling less tense and more relaxed when they smelled the sweat than when they smelled a placebo.


What element of that sweat, or of any scent we emit that’s picked up by others, is driving the attraction is still unclear. Experts believe it may likely be a bunch of them. People also seem to have one-of-a-kind odor prints, or signature smells that we can’t help but produce uniquely. That’s thanks to something called a major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a collection of proteins that regulate the immune system—and maybe even mate choice, say some scientists. According to their theory, you naturally sniff out a mate whose immune system is optimally different from your own, which would make the immune system of your offspring more diverse, robust and better positioned to fend off more pathogens.

“The evidence is strong that there’s something in the major MHC genes that influences mate choice,” Wysocki says. In one study also involving well-worn T-shirts, women sniffed shirts worn by men and picked the one they’d most prefer to socialize with. They tended to select shirts from men with MHC genes that differed from their own. Women on birth control pills, however, show the opposite effect and are drawn to MHCs similar to theirs, possibly because the pill puts the body into a hormonal state similar to pregnancy, when you’d want safe, supportive and similar relatives around. Wysocki believes that birth control pills might be messing with the mating game. “Some have argued that for women who are on the birth control pill, they’re not getting the right olfactory information about their potential mate,” he says.

http://time.com/3707071/pheromones-love-life/

[darkangel218]

4. Cooties are real, see?

[Vincardog]

5. Who could they identify at a sampeling from a Stones or Dead concert? People don't live in a sterile

Environment

[AlbertCat]

6. You Emit A Personal Microbial Cloud

I apologized! I couldn't help it.

It was all that pasta fajioli......

[edgineered]

7. Jackson wags his tail - beats their time by 3:59.999; demands treat! nt

[jtuck004]

9. They have known this for a long, long time. Not their fault we can't understand them. n/t