Testing the waters and closing beaches.

The article focuses on the study which investigates the harmful bacteria in waters in swimming beaches, as well as the better methods in detecting such bacteria. It states that in marine waters indicators for bacteria are the enterococci, a group of bacteria that commonly reside in the guts of animals and humans. It notes that high levels of enterococci at the beach indicate that the water may also contain other disease-causing microbes that are present in sewage. It mentions that some of the most promising methods are based on quantifying amounts of an indicator organism's DNA in water or sand.