A team from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) asked 21 couples a series of questions to assess their kissing habits, including how frequently they had kissed in the last year and when they last locked lips.<\/p>\n
Scientists took bacterial samples from the volunteers’ tongues and saliva before and after a strictly timed 10-second kiss.<\/p>\n
One member of the couple then drank a probiotic drink, containing an easily identifiable mixture of bugs.<\/p>\n
On the couple’s second kiss, scientists were able to detect the volume of bacteria transferred to the other partner – on average 80 million bacteria in a single 10-second kiss.<\/p>\n
But while bacteria in the saliva seemed to change quickly in response to a kiss, bug populations on the tongue remained more stable.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/78993000\/jpg\/_78993790_kiss-o-metermicropiashows-80millionbacteriaareexchangedwithfrenchkissof10secondsphotomicropiarobinutrecht.jpg\")
<\/div>\nProf Remco Kort, who led the research, said: “French kissing is a great example of exposure to a gigantic number of bacteria in a short time.<\/p>\n
“But only some bacteria transferred from a kiss seemed to take hold on the tongue.<\/p>\n
“Further research should look at the properties of the bacteria and the tongue that contribute to this sticking power.<\/p>\n
“These types of investigations may help us design future bacterial therapies and help people with troublesome bacterial problems.”<\/p>\n
Microbial museum<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Dutch scientists worked in collaboration with the museum Micropia, the world’s first museum of microbes, based in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n In a newly opened exhibition, couples are invited to share a kiss and are provided with an instant analysis of the bugs they have exchanged.<\/p>\n A growing number of researchers are looking at the microbiome – an ecosystem of some 100 trillion micro-organisms that live in and on our bodies.<\/p>\n Scientists say these populations may be essential for health and the prevention of disease.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A single 10-second kiss can transfer as many as 80 million bacteria, according to Dutch scientists. They monitored the kissing behaviour of 21 couples and found those who kissed nine times a day were most likely to share salivary bugs. Studies suggest the mouth is home to more than 700 different types of bacteria – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":67279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[15,51],"yoast_head":"\n