Doctors have finally found out if gas from flatulence or farting contains germs.

Karl Kruszelnicki, a doctor and host of a phone-in show, first got the germ inquiry from a nurse.

The nurse called the Triple J radio station in Brisbane and wanted to know whether or not she was contaminating a sterile operating room if she quietly broke wind during a surgery.

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The question initially baffled Kruszelnicki. He set off with an experiment to solve the question.

His asked a colleague to break wind onto two Petri dishes about five centimeters away. The colleague would need to break wind twice; once with clothes and once without.

After only one night, Kruszelnicki noticed the Petri dish the colleague broke wind without his trousers began sprouting visible lumps of two types of bacteria usually found in the gut and on the skin.

The other Petri dish, onto which the gas was released while the farter wore clothes, didn't show any weird growths.

It seems clothes act like a filter, not allowing bacteria to be expelled outwards into the environment. On the other hand, breaking wind while naked spreads bacteria.

Kruszelnicki did find out whether farting expelled bacteria. The results, however, were still quite strange since bacteria emitted was identified as harmful.

It was even likened to bacteria in yogurt identified as "friendly."

Other studies have also analyzed the positive aspects of farts, stating that smelling farts could be good for the health.

The rotten egg-like smell of a fart is caused by hydrogen sulfide. Matt Whiteman and Mark Wood, two British scientists, posit that a pinch of it in the right place can prevent heart failure and stroke, while also preventing aging.

The two scientists have since developed a drug that will deliver hydrogen sulfide to the "right place," which is inside our cells.

Hydrogen sulfide is capable of preventing and reversing mitochondrial damage, making cells stronger and increasing longevity.

TagsFarts, Passing Gas, bacteria, Karl Kruszelnicki