Re: amber and pathogenic microbes

["Klemm - Pamela S." <psklemm@umd5.umd.edu>]

I'm no expert in this, but I have polished numerous pieces of raw amber 
and it would seem to me if we were going to be releasing bacteria then we 
would have been doing it for quite some time.  I know several "rock" 
people that make jewelry from this stuff and inadvertently have to polish 
out a bug or two to get the desired shape, so if there was something 
there that could be released, I'd say it's been released.  Of course this 
is not the same as trying to remove genetic material, etc. and putting it in 
some kind of nuturing environment to see if you can get it to grow.
Pam