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University of Nebraska Medical Center

The uncharted world of emerging pathogens

In their quest to detect early outbreaks, virus hunters are sampling environmental DNA in water, dirt, and air. It all started when Christopher Mason’s 3-year-old daughter licked a subway pole.Like any parent, he was horrified, but also keenly curious: What types of microbes might be clinging to a metal pipe gripped by countless commuters every day?

Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine, soon became obsessed with that question. His toddler’s gross interlude inspired him to embark on a journey to unveil the world of bacteria, fungi, and viruses co-mingling with more than 8 million people in New York City’s urban jungle.

In 2013, he launched a project that began dispatching a small army of students shouldering backpacks crammed with latex gloves, vials, and sterile Q-tips. They sampled turnstiles, benches, and kiosks at every open metro stop in the city. It was an expedition into a largely unexplored terrain, like Mars or a deep-sea canyon, brimming with lifeforms both familiar and unknown.

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