“Biology students from the University of Surrey imprinted their phones onto petri dishes as part of an experiment to examine the bacteria each of us carry around on our smartphone every day,” The Telegraph reports.
“Three days later bacteria had started to grown on the growth medium within the dishes – the majority of which, although it looks disgusting, is relatively harmless,” The Telegraph reports. “One particular strain included traces of staphylococcus aureus, a form of bacteria commonly found in the human nose which can cause a range of infections from minor boils or skin abscesses to blood poisoning.”
It seems that the mobile phone doesn’t just remember telephone numbers, but also harbours a history of our personal and physical contacts such as other people, soil and other matter. It’s unusual, but a very effective way of engaging our students with the often overlooked microbiology of everyday life. — Dr Simon Parks, University of Surrey
See the gruesome photographic evidence here.
MacDailyNews Take: Pass the Clorox wipes, please!