March 17, 2010
The Bacterial Evidence on Our Keyboards
Who's been using this keyboard? The microbes might tell. (image courtesy flickr user lapideo)
Late last year, the television show Mythbusters showed that our computer keyboards are crawling with microorganisms. Now scientists from the University of Colorado have shown that those bacteria can be used to identify a computer’s user.
Germophobes don’t want to know this, but our bodies are covered with microorganisms. Some spots have more than others—the index finger, palm, back of the knee, sole of the foot and the arm pit—and washing doesn’t get rid of all the bacteria. Earlier this year, scientists discovered that we all have our own bacterial “signature”: the diversity of those bacteria is different on each person.
Those microbes are easily dislodged, which is how they end up on the things we touch, from door handles to computers. The University of Colorado researchers, who published their study this week in PNAS, went looking for our microbial “trail.” Like the Mythbusters, they took samples of the bacteria on computer keyboards, but they went further, sequencing the bacterial DNA and comparing the composition of the bacterial communities on keyboards to those on the hands of humans that used them. The communities were very similar.
The researchers then devised a test to see if they could use this information to identify a computer’s user. They sampled bacteria from nine computer mice and compared the bacterial communities to those on the hands of the nine computer users and 270 people who had never touched the mice. In each case, the composition of microorganisms on the mice was more like the users than like any of the other people.
This technique isn’t likely to end up in forensic labs any time soon—more research is needed to test and refine the method—but the researchers say that certainly a possibility.
In the meantime, you might want to figure out how to clean your keyboard and mouse.
(HT: Not Exactly Rocket Science)
Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.
4 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
This technology could be used as a log-in feature for our computers so our computers know our bacterial signature and only allow you to log-in.
A way we could use this now is to track down criminals so lets say that a criminal had signed a paper that entitled him to money. Then you know that it was one of three pens so you scan the bacterium and vuwala the criminal is identified.
It could be a new way to log in to accounts. So instead of a username and password it just uses you “signature”. And i guess knowing this makes sure to clean our keyboard i guess?
I think that it could be use for a secrety, so if they don’t have the same microoganisms you can’t accsess the computer. If someone stole something from you and their microorganisms touch something on your body likeyour jacket youwould that to find the person who stole the thing from you.
It looks like a great way to make a great system but what if you pick up someone else bacteria couldn’t the effect the reader. You could get locked out just because you touched a bottle of water!