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Here's All the Bacteria Growing on a Child's Hand

Gross.
Images via

The bacteria living on an 8-year-old's skin forms a perfect human hand print in a (literally) viral photo snapped by Cabrillo College lab tech Tasha Sturm, who achieved the effect by imprinting her son's digits in a nutrient-rich petri dish. While the resulting staph, bacilus, and yeast cultures might set a germaphobe's hair on end, these sorts of microbes are literally everywhere, are vital to the functioning of human immune systems, digestion, and other bodily functions, and might even be used in future space suits. Check out a couple close-ups of the handprint colonies below.

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via Reddit, Microbe World

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