The Genomic Standards Consortium recently held its 13th Workshop from March 5-7 in Shenzhen, China, where advances in genomics research were discussed in close proximity to the massive sequencing power of BGI. As a workshop participant, I found the meeting presentations to be both informative and exciting; the data spoke for itself, and many projects …
Built_environment-metadata-terms-v51-2_May_2014 This is a Guest Post from Lynn Schriml. The MIxS-BE metadata package was presented on March 7, 2012, as part of the Microbiology of the Built Environment session sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at GSC13 in Shenzhen, China. The Sloan Foundation has established the Microbiology of the Built Environment (BE) to uncover …
Glad to see this paper on emission of bacteria by people is now available under Wiley’s “Open Access” option: Size-resolved emission rates of airborne bacteria and fungi in an occupied classroom – Qian – 2012 I am particularly glad since this one got a lot of media coverage and I think it is VERY important for …
A new paper is out supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s “microbiology of the Built Environment program” — Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ITS region as a universal DNA barcode marker for Fungi. It is available for free to all via the PNAS “Open Option”. The paper discussing work assessing the potential for …
(cross-posted with modifications from the Eisen Lab blog) Not enough reference genomes from the built environment? Looking for ways to increase undergraduate participation in research? The marriage of these two concepts seems fairly straightforward. Bring undergraduates into the lab, have them culture microbes from the built environment, then sequence and assemble genomes… one per student. …
Just became aware of a conference that may be of interest to those who care about microbiology of the built environment: The Second International Conference on Building Energy and Environment (COBEE). From their website: Energy and environment concerns have been ranked among the top problems facing society for the next 50 years, of which buildings …
Quick post here. Check out the story from ABC news (Australia, that is): Indoor ecology – RN Future Tense – 24 November 2011. Their summary: We’re used to hearing about threats to our outdoor environment. But we rarely think about some of the challenges that we face in our indoor environment. A growing number of …
What is microBEnet? The microbiology of the Built Environment network, or microBEnet, is a project funded by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Program on the Indoor Environment. The main goals of the microBEnet project are to: Catalyze communication and collaboration among researchers funded in the Sloan Program on the Indoor Environment. Reach out …
Year 2030 1: Construct a building 2: Spray bacteria and fungi all around the building 3: Wait a few weeks and then open for business Sound crazy? Not necessarily. This scenario, or something like it, is the kind of application that could theoretically come out of current studies on the microbiology of the built environment. …
When people hear “microbiology of the built environment” they tend to think first of buildings. But the built environment includes so much more, ranging from transportation (cars/planes/space shuttles) to swimming pools to highway bridges. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has a test facility where they study biofuels. They recently presented some results …