The 'exotic' viruses that live in your sewage

Scientists discover a wealth of new microscopic bugs... by sifting through excrement on three continents

An operator crouches in a San Francisco sewer
(Image credit: Liz Mangelsdorf/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis)

It's a dirty job, but, in the name of science, someone has to do it. Sifting through raw sewage may sound disgusting, but it's actually a "goldmine" for scientists charged with discovering new viruses, as evidenced by a new study [PDF] published by the American Society for Microbiology. Here's what you should know:

Scientists really studied sewage?

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