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Wine can be sophisticated, classy and robust -- but in it's awkward teenage years it totally
has acne too.
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Hey gang, Trace here for DNews -- Acne is pretty gross. It happens when a human pore
gets clogged and pus builds up inside that clogged pore. Considering we have literally
millions of pores on our skin it's rather amazing we don't have zits more often! They
can be caused by excess skin lipids or accidental rapid cell division. Normally, bacteria on
the skin just hang out, feeding on sebum we produce to lubricate our hair shafts. But
when the follicle gets clogged more bacteria show up and can cause inflammation.
The bacteria in question is called Propionibacterium Acnes, and it's a completely normal thing
to have growing on human skin -- somewhere it probably shouldn't be growing though, is
on the grapes from which we get the nectar of the gods... wine. And yet... scientists
in Italy have found human acne bacteria on wine grapes. The kicker is, it's not actually
the same bacteria, it's an adaptation... basically it evolved to live in a new place.
Propionibacterium acnes type Zappae lives in the bark and pith of the grape vine. It
gets its name from Frank Zappa, because the Italian scientists who discovered it were
listening to a Zappa album at the time. The scientists know P. acnes type Zappae is related
to the human version, because there are gene markers in its DNA. They traced its genetic
history to when they were one species living on human skin, 7,000 years ago! This aligns
with the time humans were first beginning to cultivate grape vines!
The discovery is INTERESTING because speaks to microorganisms ability to adapt to new
environments and lifestyles to propagate themselves. It's NOTABLE because it is the first time
ever, when a HUMAN bacteria jumped to a plant. Chances are ancient peoples planted the grape
vines, and infected them with P. acnes. The scientists believe the type Zappae has since
infected every grape vine in existence, thanks humans. Geez.
Most importantly, this infection probably happened 7,000 years ago when grapes were
first taken from the Middle East. While yes, there is acne bacteria all up on those grape
vines, it's not a food safety thing. They've been there for as long as we've been growing
them. They're friends! In comparison, humans have had acne for more than 10,000 years!
King Tut had acne treatments in his tomb! It's not going to hurt the grapes, but more
study is planned to find out how a human infection crossed over onto plants...
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