Comments on: TechReckoning: Mapping Macrobes

By: Jason Bobe

Jason Bobe — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:57:33 +0000

Interesting concept, but I’m not sure this scenario is technically feasible or likely. A person who grabs a public door knob will acquire microbes from places they have never visited, etc. Microbes move around, as people do. Any microbial signature of a geographic location is also likely to change, like the weather, which means its not uniquely identifying (as a fingerprint is). I’ll ask around and what others think.

Thanks,
Jason

By: jimt

jimt — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:19:25 +0000

Hi Jason,

Yes- I see your point – that was the result of trying to keep within a word limit for an article. The concern I was pointing at was that of states and other powerful players using microbiomic sampling to track people’s movements and associations. Imagine that you could, using metagenomic analysis, find a sort of genomic ‘fingerprint’ describing microbial populations in different locations and you can then identify that ‘fingerprint’ in the microbiomes of people who have travelled to that place. you would be developing a tool for surveillance authorities to work out where people have been. It could be a method of tracking dissidents.
jim

By: Jason Bobe

Jason Bobe — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:05:38 +0000

Hi Jim -

The article is informative, but I’m trying to understand the last sentence here: “Instead, mapping and controlling microbes may become interchangeable with tools mapping and controlling human populations.”

This sentence is, honestly, unhelpful to those of us that are interested in mapping our own microbiomes, yet would like to become informed about the possible risks of doing so.

Do you have any specific risks you can share?

Thanks very much,
Jason