Turns out you're getting a lot more with that change for a twenty: After analyzing the DNA of 80 $1 bills, researchers from New York University's Dirty Money Project discovered some 3,000 types of bacteria.
Not only is that number more than previous studies have shown, but researchers were only able to categorize about 20% of the non-human DNA, as the rest hasn't been catalogued yet. Of the bacteria named in abundance: viruses, funghi, E.coli, the bacteria that causes diphtheria, and--number one on the list--Staphylococcus aureus, the strain responsible for acne, respiratory issues, and food poisoning. (Think public toilets are gross? Check out the 10 Worst Germ Hot Spots that you never would have guessed.)
Surprised that microbes can actually grow on money? "A body-temperature wallet is a petri dish," says Philippe Etienne, managing director of Innovia Security Pty Ltd., which makes special bank-note paper for 23 countries, to The Wall Street Journal. And even though the $1 bill (made of an absorbent cotton-linen blend) gets passed around for about 21 months before it's retired, it's still enough for public health experts to seriously consider money as a source of potential contagion.
Source: http://healthyliving.msn.com/health-wel ... llar-bills
So, what side of this are you on? Do you prefer to carry money around, or do you leave your transactions to the newer methods? Maybe a combination of both? What are your reasons?