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Copper surface limits horizontal gene transfer

Not long ago we posted about the effect of copper on microorganisms in the built environment.  This topic seems to come up more and more often with information ranging from belief that copper is a miracle cure to strong skepticism.

A recent study from the UK adds an interesting piece to this puzzle by showing that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) was dramatically inhibited on copper relative to stainless steel.

This is early-stage work but seems worth further investigation.

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David Coil

David Coil is a Project Scientist in the lab of Jonathan Eisen at UC Davis. David works at the intersection between research, education, and outreach in the areas of the microbiology of the built environment, microbial ecology, and bacterial genomics. Twitter

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