Study: Thousands Of Microbes Found On $1 Bills
NEW YORK (CBS) -- A recent study finds that thousands of microbes roam $1 bills.
CBS News reports that New York University researchers found as many as 3,000 kinds of bacteria living on $1 bills.
Study: Climate Change Could Have Significant Effect On Coffee
The bacteria, fungi and pathogens that were found on the bills can cause serious illnesses, such as skin infections, food poisoning and stomach ulcers.
"The most surprising thing is that we didn't find as much human DNA as we would have thought," Jane Carlton, director of genome sequencing at NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, told CBS News.
The study was conducted by examining 80 circulating $1 bills in New York City between February 2013 and July 2013.
According to CBS News, researchers analyzed the DNA pulled from the dollar bills using environmental metagenomics sequencing.
New Study Denies There Are Health Benefits To Moderate Drinking
Researchers found E.Coli, bacillus cereus, and staphylococcus aureus on the bills.
The average $1 bill has an estimated lifespan of 22 months and is made up of 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen.