

#HUMAN ANATOMY ATLAS 2 SKIN#
Healthcare professionals use these antimicrobials to treat respiratory, sexually transmitted, and skin diseases, among many other infections. The most common resistance genes that the researchers identified allow bacteria to survive exposure to two major classes of antibiotics, known as MLS and beta-lactam antiobiotics. The latest study revealed that many different bacterial genes that confer resistance to common antibiotics are widespread in the urban environment. “hese are the most ‘high touch’ surfaces in most cities, and we wanted to also have locations that would be uniform across the sampled cities,” Prof. Mason developed a protocol to standardize the sampling so that, for example, each survey included swabs from benches, handrails, and the counters of ticket booths - places where travelers either sit or put their hands. When he published his initial findings, researchers from all over the world began to contact him, asking for advice about surveying their own cities. Mason started collecting and analyzing microbial samples from the New York City subway in 2013. This allowed the scientists to use the collective microbial genome or “microbiome” of mass transit systems as a proxy for the urban microbiome as a whole. Travelers bring with them the harmless “commensal” microbes that live in and on their bodies and come into contact with the organisms already in the environment. They write that every day, billions of the people who live in cities come into contact with surfaces in mass transit systems, such as subways and bus networks. The scientists have published their findings - which they describe as the “first systematic, worldwide catalog of the urban microbial ecosystem” - in the journal Cell. In addition, there was a “core” set of 31 species that are not found in the human body but cropped up in 97% of all the samples. They discovered that each city has a unique microbial fingerprint, likely as a result of differences in climate and geography. They also found 10,928 viruses, 1,302 bacteria, and two archaea that were unknown to science. The lab used a technique called shotgun metagenomic sequencing to identify 4,246 known species of urban microorganisms from their DNA. Over 3 years, the scientists collected 4,728 samples and sent them to a lab at Weill Cornell Medicine for analysis. Mason and collaborators around the world swabbed railings, seats, and ticket kiosks on bus networks and subways in 60 cities. “If you gave me your shoe, I could tell you with about 90% accuracy the city in the world from which you came,” says Christopher Mason, Ph.D., a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY. Allied with microbial data from farms and sewage, the atlas could provide an early warning system for the spread of antimicrobial resistance and outbreaks of infectious disease.The survey reveals that bacterial genes conferring resistance to antibiotics are widespread in the urban environment.Each city has a distinct mix of microorganisms, which its unique climate and geography determine.A global survey has identified the bacteria, viruses, and archaea that live in the mass transit systems of 60 major cities.Share on Pinterest New research looks at how a genetic atlas may help predict future outbreaks.
