A new preprint has come out in PeerJ that presents a simple yet elegant solution to one of the bigger problems in DNA based microbial diversity studies. The authors (Wenke Smets, Jonathan W Leff, Mark A Bradford, Rebecca L McCulley, Sarah Lebeer, Noah Fierer) show how one can use the addition of an internal standard …
Scientists are announcing the discovery of thousands of unidentified species living in and around homes in the United States. NC State has a press release / mini story about the recent paper from the Wildlife of Your Homes project — Source: Citizen Science Effort Highlights How Little We Know About Invisible Life in Our Own …
In dust one can record the actions of storms, the wearing of mountains, the consequences of industrialization. The study of dust has a long history. Geologists consider it. Toxicologists too. Arthur Conan Doyle has Sherlock Holmes look to dust to discern where a criminal might have traveled. But perhaps the most telling feature of dust …
There is a story in BBC News on the new paper from the Wildlife of Your Homes Project. By Rebecca Morelle. The dust in our homes contains an average of 9,000 different types of fungi and bacteria, a study suggests. Source: Thousands of microbes found in house dust – BBC News
Dust gathering in homes at this very moment is more alive than you might think. There is a story by Jennifer Viegas in Discovery News about a new paper from Noah Fierer, Rob Dunn and others on the microbiology of household dust. Source: Bacteria in Household Dust Reflect Who Lives There : Discovery News
. Sarah Zhang at Wired has updated her post from three years ago about bacteria in her apratment with reference to a new study just published from the Wildlife of Your Homes study of bacteria and fungi in homes. Definitely worth a look. Source: What I Learned From Sequencing the Bacteria in My Apartment | …
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is finally cracking down on products that tap into the neurotic tendencies of extreme germophobes. In this recent Consumerist article, Chris Morran discusses the penalties Zadro Health Solutions and Angel Sales had to pay for false advertising of their disinfection products. Without a single lab experiment, we can already deduce …
Some of you may know that we ran a Kitty Kickstarter back in May to start a participatory research project inspired by the American Gut Project only for cats. When you sign up, kittybiome will sequence the gut microbiome of your cat and provide you with the results, so you can see how your cat compares with …
Here are the new papers on microbes in the Built Environment I found this week, about salt-loving bacteria colonizing old houses, viruses in swimming pools, sewer systems, urban water and soils, and microbiota in urban mosquitos. Here is a good ol’ country song to match this post: This Old House by Stuart Hamblen. Paid Access, review: Halophilic microbial communities in deteriorated buildings – …
I recently bought these shoes online. I happily broke them in immediately upon receiving them, a bit hastily. If I had paid a little more attention to the various paper slips in the box, I would have noticed the excitedly-worded “ANTIMICROBIAL ODOR CONTROL” advertisement. Alas, I did not notice this. Nowhere on the site did …