Dangerous Germs Amass on Mass Transit

Results of Pathomap, a project sampling environmental DNA in New York City, suggest that pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics lurk in the city’s subway stations.  Led by Chris Mason, from Weill Cornell Medical College (New York, USA), a group of high school students swabbed benches and turnstyles in 5 NYC subway stations.  The samples were then cultured in Petri dishes containing three commonly used antibiotics. Bacteria from five of the 18 swabs she tested grew in spite of the presence of either ampicillin or kanamycin, and in one case, both. The study authors write that: “Our data indicate that densely populated, highly trafficked areas of human transit show strong evidence of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and some presence of potentially pathogenic organisms.”