This episode of Dnews is brought to you by Ting: Mobile that makes sense.
Science says our smartphones are a reflection of ourselves.
So what does it mean if I've dropped mine in the toilet 3 times?
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and I've said it before, I'll say it again: Everything is
disgusting.
Especially your cellphone.
It's like a tiny bacteria delivery device.
And a new study shows that those bacteria - are indeed a reflection of you.
A group of researchers from the University of Oregon, sequenced microbes from the index
fingers and thumbs of 17 subjects, as well as microbes from the surface of their smartphone
touchscreens.
The goal was to see if our favorite and most widely used possessions resemble us, microbially
speaking.
And it turns out - they do.
Researchers found that 82% of the most common bacteria found on the subjects' fingers - were
also present on their phones.
Meaning your personal microbiome - which is the specific collection of bacteria that's
unique to every person - closely resembles the bacteria on your phone.
The three most commonly found ones were Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Corynebacterium, which
is a mostly harmless bacteria that lives on human skin - but has been known to cause diptheria,
an upper respiratory tract illness.
Interestingly, they also found that women seem to share more microbial similarity with
their phones - than men do.
Although there's no current explanation on why that may be.
Now it's kind of obvious that our cell phones would match us, since most of us are glued
to them all day long - but the study does have some interesting implications.
Specifically, it paves the way for potentially using someone's personal effects as a means
of monitoring their health.
Not only is it non-invasive, it doesn't really require direct participation from the person.
Meaning it could be a fast - and easy way - to conduct large-scale microbial studies,
analyze our exposure to biological threats, or screen the microbes of hospital and healthcare
workers.
Currently, 1 in every 20 patients at a healthcare facility, will contract a hospital-acquired
infection at some point.
So being able to screen those people - and their caretakers - could prevent the spread
of disease, as well as thousands of hospital-related deaths.
Sounds like a pretty good deal!
And speaking of good deals, if you do have a cell phone - which of course you do, cause
it's 2014 - then you gotta check out Ting.
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But a good one.
All of your monthly bills come with complete transparency - so you can see exactly what
you're getting charged for.
They also have great 24/7 customer service, so if you have any questions - you can call,
and you're guaranteed to get a real live person on the other line.
Did I mention that it's cheap?
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Hit up dnews.ting.com - and remember, every visit to that link helps support the show.
In the meantime, if you have questions, comments, anything you wanna say about this episode
- just leave em in the comments below.
Otherwise, thanks for watching!