THIS smartphone bacteria may be art, but that doesn't mean it isn't real.

The truth is you're all filthy, filthy creatures and your smartphone harbours proof.

In the most ugly example of art mirroring life, students from the microbiology department of the University of Surrey in the UK have turned life into art, by cultivating the bacteria from smartphones in petri-dishes, letting it sit and grow for three days.

Gallery: Smartphone bacteria cannot be unseen

They then photographed the results and blew it up large for all to see.

"From these results, it seems that the mobile phone doesn’t just remember telephone numbers, but also harbours a history of our personal and physical contacts such as other people, soil, etc," said Dr Simon Park whose class at The University of Surrey created the bacterial art.

While most of the bacteria was fairly harmless, they found some pretty scary stuff too including Staphylococcus aureus, boils, sinusitis and food poisoning.

Worse, touchscreen smartphones were found to harbour bacterial all over them, while the yucky stuff on non-smartphones was limited to the keyboard.

This is why anti-bacterial smartphone wipes are such a good idea. Also because British researchers found that mobile phones contained 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a men's restroom.

So how can you keep your phone clean? Here are a few tips:

- Smartphone wipes, we've been over this

- Anti-bacterial wipes for your hands and face

- Don't take your phone into the bathroom with you. Enough said.

- Also, wash your hands after going to the bathroom.

For all the gory details, visit our photo gallery here.