Just How Much Bacteria Is On The Subway?

The results of a DNA sequencing project on the New York City subway have just been published and findings are a bit disturbing. We always knew there was a lot of bacteria on the subways but the PathoMap project, which sampled turnstiles, benches, and keypads at 466 stations, found 15,152 life-forms in total, half of which were bacterial. However, the recent advancements in genetic sequencing have left us in a bit of a gray area. Researchers can now sequence ALL of the DNA in an environmental sample, but the research libraries are still incomplete. So the end result of the PathoMap project is that half the DNA found matched no known organism. Anyone here a germaphobe?

Click HERE for the PathoMap graphic