Investigating the antibiotic resistome of rural and peri-urban Latin America

For many years, efforts to profile the antibiotic resistome of the human gut focused exclusively on two extremes of human society: Western, industrialized cities and remote hunter-gatherers. While these studies were undoubtedly important, they overlooked the majority of the world’s population, which exists somewhere between the two extremes. Indeed, three-quarters of the world’s population lives …

Interesting long read on Healthy Building efforts by @Google

Got pointed to a very interesting long read story by Erica Hartmann on Twitter: Long read about how @Google is helping ID healthier building materials. Can’t wait to be able to use Portico! https://t.co/gdxDL8IUYq — Erica Hartmann (@ericamhartmann) February 6, 2017 The story is by Diana Budds at the FastCoDesign. It is definitely worth a …

Of possible interest: #PLOSOne paper on #microbiome sharing between children, livestock and household surfaces

Quick post here: Of possible interest: Microbiome sharing between children, livestock and household surfaces in western Kenya in PLOS One.  Abstract below The gut microbiome community structure and development are associated with several health outcomes in young children. To determine the household influences of gut microbiome structure, we assessed microbial sharing within households in western Kenya …

My thoughts as a relatively junior researcher working with established peers

A little over two years ago, I wrote a short piece in a military engineering magazine about the potential importance of the microbiome in the Department of Defense (DoD). Two months later, the head of the VA Rocky Mountain Mental Health Research Center, Dr. Lisa Brenner, contacted me and said she would like to start …

Legionella in the News

A few stories of possible interest on Legionella Source: Call to increase Legionella controls at home and hospitals Occasional testing for Legionella bacteria in hot water services, air-conditioner cooling towers and other potable water is not an adequate safeguard against a disease outbreak, a public health expert warns. Source: What You Need to Know About …

“Derelict White House” contaminated by leptospirosis causing bacteria #WhiteHouse

So I was searching for any new announcements from the White House about bacteria and I stumbled upon this report from ITV Source: Police issue health warning over derelict building contaminated by bacterial infection In the story they report that the White House is infested with leptospirosis causing bacteria.  Quite a shock but it could …

Of possible interest: Biosafety Design Initiative courses and more

Got pointed to this Biosafety Design Initiative on Twitter @phylogenomics This may be of interest – “eval of clean & controlled environmnts & design of space & infrastructr” https://t.co/5P8iDsVt2o — Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 23, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js It may be of interest to some. They have courses and other activities connected to microbes in the built …

Multiple Positions Open at University of Oregon BioBE Center

Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg and Jessica Green, of the Biology and the Built Environment Center (BioBE), are currently seeking a microbial ecology Research Associate / Research Assistant Professor / Research Associate Professor (non-tenure track faculty) to investigate fundamental questions surrounding the role of microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and viruses) in the built environment and …