
Keyboard Bacterial Culture - ingve
http://blog.mattbierner.com/keyboard-bacterial-culture/
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godelsphantom
The streaks are caused by condensation, which forms puddles, allowing the
bacteria to diffuse. You should grow your agar plates upside-down to avoid
them. Microbiologist here.

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mhb
He said that he did grow it upside down to avoid condensation.

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sciencerobot
It could still be condensation clinging to the agar. He said he put the agar
in a bag above a heater. Things probably got pretty steamy in there.

The only other explanation I can think of is that those bacteria are motile
but I find it odd that they would all move "away" from the center of the
keyboard.

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adrae5df
Mouses, keyboards, laptops, mobile phones, pads, all belong on a table. As we
used to read in paper format, during a meal, we now use them. Rather than
removing them, instead make them easier to clean. Not that food is the only
source of dirt and bacteria, they get extra dirty because we spend the most
time in contact with them. I would love to wash my keyboard, mouse, and pad,
in a sink.

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dorfsmay
You can wash a keyboard and mouse in a dishwasher. Lots of site out there
describing that. Seen colleagues doing after a coffee spill. You just have to
make sure the heat is off, and give them days to dry off.

Laptops are problematic because of batteries inside that are difficult to
remove, and that we don't want to be deprived of our laptops for several days.

~~~
adrae5df
My argument was that you cannot clean that specific hardware like you clean
your table and cutlery. It is simply not convenient.

I don't see how you can wash a laptop under any circumstance, apart from a
complete disassembly.

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gozo
Isopropanol + microfiber cloth? That's what I do at least.

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mirimir
Fun fact: There are lots of bacteria in the environment that aren't
culturable. Some are known species.[0] But there are also tens of thousands of
uncharacterized bacterial species in soil.[1]

[0]
[http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00...](http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00258/abstract)

[1]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398504/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398504/)

~~~
irremediable
Wow, that's amazing. Is it possible to cultivate them at all, albeit at great
expense and effort? Or is it entirely unfeasible? The Wikipedia article on
"Viable But Not Culturable" is quite brief.

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virusduck
It's not feasible to culture them all. We don't know what kind of culture
medium to use for every species. Some species of bacteria require other
species of bacteria to grow. In other words, we don't know what we don't know
about culturing a lot of bacteria. We know they're there based on DNA
sequencing.

~~~
irremediable
Have there ever been any examples where people have figured out how to culture
them? e.g. figuring out an unusual medium and what other species they need. Or
has it never been done?

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joeyspn
Coming up next: _" How I enhanced my microbiome eating always at my computer"_

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syntheticnature
When my wife was working on her Ph.D, there were only shared computers in her
lab. After an upgrade, I re-purposed her old home desktop to be able to take
care of the basics and sit at her desk -- it wouldn't handle everything, but
would be useful for most of the day-to-day work.

Suddenly she got sick much less often. So, what I'd really love to see would
be this project using a shared computer keyboard, and I'm not talking about
the same family, for example. Of course, I'm not sure in this era of laptops
that shared machines happen all that often anymore.

(Edit to remove extraneous word.)

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abeppu
But aren't most common illnesses (e.g. cold and flu) from viruses, not
bacteria? I wouldn't expect this sort of culture to show the kind of stuff
that causes most people to get sick, even if it is spread by things like
keyboards or mice or door handles.

~~~
syntheticnature
I don't know about most per se, but you make an excellent point.

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spyder
There are lot of washable and even medically approved keyboards if you worry
about that and willing to pay more:

[http://www.keyboardspecialists.co.uk/shop-shopbytypeanti-
bac...](http://www.keyboardspecialists.co.uk/shop-shopbytypeanti-
bacterialmedicalkeyboards/)

For medical use there is even one with UV sterilization:
[http://www.keyboardspecialists.co.uk/5032-vioguard-self-
sani...](http://www.keyboardspecialists.co.uk/5032-vioguard-self-sanitizing-
uv-germicidal-medical-keyboard)

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lcswi
I would be more interested in the kinds of bacteria and how it differs from
just the ones on people's hands.

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codeulike
Yeah saying that there is bacteria on something is pretty meaningless.
Bacteria are everywhere. It's what type of bacteria that makes the difference

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Kristine1975
I wouldn't worry too much. How many of those bacteria are completely harmless
or even beneficial? (think skin flora)

That said, I recently cleaned the keyboard of a shared computer at work using
ethanol because it was really gross. I also regularly vacuum the one I have at
home.

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brador
I've learnt the jankiest keyboards belong to those who eat at their desk.
Don't eat at your desk and your keyboard stays relatively clean and nice. Plus
you're not putting that bacteria directly into your mouth.

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pacaro
While this isn't common any more, I used to work in an environment where
people smoked at their desks... A smoker's keyboard can become a truly
horrifying thing.

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andor
Not just the keyboard... the whole machine clogs up with nicotine and dust.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=smoker+pc&tbm=isch](https://www.google.com/search?q=smoker+pc&tbm=isch)

~~~
brador
Would be an interesting experiment to see what cleaner is most effective in
removing that gunk, then mixing with water and a smoker "inhaling" it into
their lungs.

Would it clean their lungs of similar gunk or would the water return clear as
it went in?

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branchless
At the table with a laptop eating a croissant. I'm not reading this story!

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nickysielicki
Note to others: not a great post to read while you eat your breakfast at your
computer.

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lpsz
Always thought people eating sandwiches, burgers, etc. with their hands while
also typing is gross.

Keeping things clean, though: buy a box of 70% isopropyl pads (about 1"x1"
squares) at your CVS/Walgreens and use them to clean your keyboard, mouse,
door handle, kitchen counter, etc. Works great and leaves no residue. Don't
use on wall paint and other alcohol-soluble surfaces.

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gus_massa
Similar project by another person of the print of hand:
[http://www.microbeworld.org/component/jlibrary/?view=article...](http://www.microbeworld.org/component/jlibrary/?view=article&id=13867)
Read the authors remarks in the comments. I think she does this at work, so
she know better the details.

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bdcravens
Consider how many people look at their phone while on the toilet. They
(hopefully) wash their hands afterward, but how many people regularly sanitize
their screen? Consider that the next time someone hands you their phone to
show you something.

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hrez
Washable keyboard [http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Washable-
Keyboard-K310-Window...](http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Washable-
Keyboard-K310-Windows/dp/B008D1JRIO)

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daveguy
I'm going to put this in the "did not click - do not want to know" category.

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jmnicolas
Honestly I thought it would be much worse than that. If you're not a total
germophobe it should be OK.

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daveguy
Thank you for the encouragement. I went ahead and checked it out and you are
right. Not bad at all. Boiled down to: do keyboards have bacteria? Answer:
Yes. The whole-keyboard agar was an interesting approach.

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agumonkey
uv backlit keyboard may be safe ?

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Kristine1975
The human eye can't see UV light, so I guess it is converted to visible light
when used as a backlight. But here's an article about someone experimenting
with a UV light to desinfect their keyboard:
[http://www.pcworld.com/article/237186/can_a_uv_light_kill_th...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/237186/can_a_uv_light_kill_the_stuff_growing_on_your_keyboard.html)
(lots of pictures of agar plates)

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bdcravens
I was thinking the same think. My toothbrush (Phillips SonicCare) has a UV
light in the compartment that holds the toothbrush heads. Would it be possible
for keyboards to have something similar? (for the many that have LEDs, perhaps
some sort of UV light that activates while keyboard is idle.. probably
wouldn't kill all bacteria, but at least some, similar to toothbrush)

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agumonkey
An adaptation of this [http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/magazine/a-few-of-our-
favor...](http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/magazine/a-few-of-our-favorite-
things/)

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tiredwired
Wear gloves.

