Bacteria can survive inside a microwave oven Researchers found 747 bacterial species from 24 families The bacteria were similar to those found on kitchen surfaces THURSDAY, Aug. 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Bacteria can adapt to a wide range of hostile environments, surviving and even thriving in marine oil spills, ocean-borne plastic trash, industrial brownfields and even the interior of the International Space Station. Now, researchers have found bacteria that have adapted to arguably one of the most potentially deadly locales imaginable -- microwave ovens.
“Our results reveal that domestic microwaves have a more ‘anthropized’ microbiome, similar to kitchen surfaces, while laboratory microwaves harbor bacteria that are more resistant to radiation,” said researcher with Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence SL in Paterna, Spain. For the study, researchers took microbe samples from 30 microwaves -- 10 in single-household kitchens, 10 in shared spaces like cafeterias and workplaces, and 10 from molecular biology and microbiology labs. Researchers cultured the strains and performed genetic sequencing on the microbes, detecting 747 different species within 24 bacterial families.
They found that typical microbial communities overlapped between home microwaves and those used to heat food in workplaces. Those bacteria tended to be the same as germs found on typical kitchen surfaces. “Some species of genera found in domestic microwaves, such as , and , may pose a risk to human h.