New AI determines where a person is based on bacteria: a revolutionary discovery by Swedish scientists
An innovative development by Swedish scientists can determine a person's location based on the analysis of bacterial composition collected from his body, demonstrating an accuracy of up to 92% in well-studied urban areas.
Microbiome as a locator
The principle of operation of biological GPS
Experts from Lund University have developed an innovative location identification system based on the analysis of bacterial traces. This method is similar to traditional forensic approaches, where evidence such as hair or soil particles helps establish a connection between a person and a specific location.
Scientific background of the method
According to lead researcher Eran Elhaik, the microbiological composition of the human body changes dynamically when interacting with the environment. Monitoring these changes opens up new opportunities for epidemiological research and identification of disease sources. Bacterial communities have clear geographic specificity: some species are ubiquitous, others are characteristic only of certain areas.
Practical application of technology
Artificial intelligence was trained on an extensive database of 4135 MetaSUB samples. The system showed impressive results: 92% accuracy in cities with a lot of data and 87% in less studied locations. When tested on the Hong Kong subway, the technology distinguished stations at a distance of 172 meters, and in New York it identified objects located less than a meter from each other. In London, the accuracy was about 50%, which is explained by differences in the sanitary conditions of the metros before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Development prospects
Researchers plan to create detailed microbiome maps of cities. This will expand forensic capabilities and deepen our understanding of urban microflora, including the organisms that inhabit streets, parks and the human body.
Glossary
- Lund University is one of the oldest and largest universities in Sweden, founded in 1666 year
- Eran Elhaik - leading research biologist at Lund University
- MetaSUB - international project on studying the microbiome of the urban environment
- mGPS - a microbial positioning system developed by scientists at Lund University
- COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
Links
Hashtags
Save a link to this article
Discussion of the topic – New AI determines where a person is based on bacteria: a revolutionary discovery by Swedish scientists
An innovative development by Swedish researchers makes it possible to track a person’s movements based on an analysis of the bacterial composition of his body using artificial intelligence.
Latest comments
8 comments
Write a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are checked *
Liam
The future is already here! 🔬 Imagine, now you can determine where a person has been simply by bacteria. 92% accuracy is impressive. I wonder how this technology will change forensic science?
Isabella
What amazed me most about the subway in Hong Kong is that you can distinguish between stations at a distance of 172 meters! 🚇 Although it’s a little scary that our bacteria can tell so much about us.
Heinrich
Isabella, I agree! It’s also interesting to compare the cleanliness of the metro in different cities. Hong Kong is flawless, but London, not so much. By the way, we also have something to work on in Berlin 😅
Viktor
Another useless toy for spying on people. Previously, we lived without any microbiome maps and managed just fine. They also spend money on it... 😤
Sophie
Viktor, but this can save lives! Imagine how this will help in finding missing people or solving crimes. Technologies are developing, we need to keep up with the times 💪
Liam
Sophie is right! 👍 By the way, I was hooked by the idea of creating microbiome maps of cities. This will also help to better understand the ecology of the urban environment.
Isabella
But I’m thinking about using it in medicine. If the sources of infections can be traced, this is a breakthrough in epidemiology! 🏥
Heinrich
Liam, Isabella, yes! And it’s also interesting how the indicators have changed since the pandemic. Maybe now the results would be completely different? 🤔