OK – I confess. I have worked on microbiology of the built environment now for 4+ years and I have never thought about what might be found on library books. Never. And then I was pointed to this: Fifty Shades of Grey goes viral — literally | Books | theguardian.com. And I am now intrigued (not …
We try to make sure that our discussions of the microbiology of the “built environment” are very inclusive. That means in addition to the obvious houses and office buildings we’ve talked about plumbing systems, planes, trains, etc. But this story is certainly the first time I’ve thought about what is dwelling inside of musical instruments. …
Just a quick post to point out an article on phys.org talking about Amy Pruden’s fascinating work on probiotics for plumbing. Read her microBEnet post about the work here and a related post by Kyle Bibby here. From the phys.org article: “We believe this microbiome can be harnessed to control opportunistic pathogens,” Pruden said. For …
Paula Olsiewski recently pointed us to this article entitled “Contamination of Public Buses with MRSA in Lisbon, Portugal: A Possible Transmission Route of Major MRSA Clones within the Community.” Basically the authors found nosocomial (hospital-acquired) strains of MRSA on a number of public buses and conclude: MRSA contamination of public transport and the transfer of …
Indoor Air and Climate Change URL: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2014/2014_star_indoor_air.html Open Date: 10/23/2013 – Close Date: 01/23/2014 Here are some of the important details: Summary: EPA announces an extramural funding competition designed to support research that improves understanding of how climate change affects human health through indoor air quality as adapted by building designs and uses. Proposals should …
Well – three recent news stories show an increasing awareness and impact of microbes in the built environment on sports, of all things: Grambling State Tigers’ players send letter of complaint to administration – ESPN Third Tampa Bay Buccaneers player tests positive for MRSA staph … A’s have another sewage leak during win over Angels …
In the last 24 hours I saw articles with the following three headlines: My dishwasher is trying to kill me: Extreme conditions suit pathogenic fungus. Compost Harbors Legionnaire’s Disease Bacteria Bacteria, Mold Found In Vacuum Dust You’re not safe anywhere! And people wonder why microbes get such a bad rap. Yes, of course some microbes …
I’ve had a number of conversations over the last decade that have gone something like this: Other person: “I totally agree that overuse of antibiotics and antibacterials is a problem” Me: “Do you realize how pervasive they are? They’re in toys, laundry detergent, hand soap, cosmetics, deodorants, you name it. In fact, I’ll bet there’s …
Hats off to Tuesday’s New York Times article, “A Quest for Even Safer Drinking Water,” for daring to bring microbiology to the people. The article sheds light several key reasons we can no longer afford to ignore the vast microbial diversity that exists within the drinking water environment, among them are opportunistic pathogens and antibiotic …
Very interesting article by Peter Andrey Smith: A Quest for Even Safer Drinking Water – NYTimes.com. It tells the tale of Norm Pace and his lab’s field work to study the microbial diversity of municipal drinking water systems. The work is part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s program on Microbiology of the Built Environment and …