Dirty Money is Teeming With Life

Researchers have discovered that the surface of money is teeming with more microbial life than most would think possible, according to preliminary findings revealed by researchers.

We all know that money is dirty. Parents tell their children to wash their hands after handling cash, and bank tellers even often wear gloves to prevent their fingertips from blackening after counting bills all day. But did you think that those bills were the homes of thousands of types of bacteria as well?

Using a modern genetic material analysis technique, researchers from New York University's (NYU) Dirty Money Project were able to identify more than 3,000 different types of bacteria on  $1 bills. This is a massively larger number than previous studies have found because this is the first study of this kind that relied on genetic analysis for identification, rather than simple microscopic examination.

While some of the bacteria discovered was predicable -- microbes that traditionally live on human skin are expect d to be found on all things that are handled by people often -- but other bacteria more traditionally found in the mouth, nostrils, and even the vagina were found living on the dollar bills as well.

And that's not even the half of it. Jane Carlton, director of genome sequencing at NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the project's team was only able to identify about 20 percent of the non-human DNA found on the bank notes, indicating that there  is likely to be a significantly higher number of unidentifiable microbes living on those bills than the known 3,000.

While the study is not yet complete, these preliminary findings reflect the results of complete genetic sequencing of 80 $1 bills from a Manhattan bank. The team is so excited about what they have found, that they felt the need to share the results a bit earlier than intended.

Carlton excitedly told the WSJ, that the project's found microbes that even grow on money, and dont just latch onto it from a separate source.

Still, while nasty-sounding, there is no need for concern. While some of these bills were identified to even have minute traces of some dangerous microbes such as anthrax and diphtheria, the bacteria and other organism have to be significantly prevalent to infect and harm the human body.

These results from the incomplete study "the Dirty Money Project" are preliminary findings and should be viewed as such until the completed study is published in a peer reviewed journal.

The results were first detailed in the Wall Street Journal on April 18.