Personal Bubble

           

            

           The human body is surrounded by many microscopic organisms that consist of microbes, chemicals, fungi, and microscopic animals called an "exposome". Scientists conducted research on 15 patients by using a small air-monitoring device which was a small vacuum that picked up any exposomes present around the person being monitored. Health is determined by a person’s DNA and the environment and no one has studied how biological and chemical exposures effect people on a personal level until now. By analyzing RNA and DNA the researchers chemically profiled the particles detected around the patient and created a database of over 40,000 species of all environmental exposures found. The studied showed that everyone has a unique exposome that is completely different from another person even if they live close together.

            Research studies like these are useful in order to determine if a person is allergic to certain microbes around them or if a microbe that they are allergic to is present. This device could also be used to detect if certain carcinogens are present in a particular environment and if the exposure is enough to affect a human being. If the chemicals can fit through the holes of the filter in the device, then it can reach a humans lower respiratory tract and affect the lungs. The more exposomes identified the more research can be done in order to determine how they affect our health.