New papers on microbiology of the built environment, April 3, 2016

Your weekly update with new papers on the microbiology of the built environment, and the effect of humans on microbial communities in a broader sense. Microbes in the house Microbial analyses of airborne dust collected from dormitory rooms predict the sex of occupants – Julia C Luongo – Indoor Air ($38 for PDF, $6 to …

A true must read: amazing essay by Tal Addaby “Less Disinfectant, More Rioja”

There is a wonderfully essay by Tal Abbady coming out in tomorrow’s New York Times (and available online now). A few years in Spain, and my mother’s last days, helped me see the futility of a sterilized life. Source: Less Disinfectant, More Rioja  The essay is about many things, including differences between cultures (pun intended …

Kudos to Marc Edwards, selected as one of Fortune’s World’s Greatest Leaders

This really made my day / week / month.  Marc Edwards has been selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s “World’s Greatest Leaders”. Source: Marc Edwards Here’s what they wrote about him Edwards, a MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, is one of the nation’s top experts on water contamination–and nowhere has his impact been bigger than in …

Sloan Microbiology of the Built Environment Data Analysis Workshop (secrets of QIIME, VAMPS and QIITA) April 4-5, 2016 University of California, San Diego

We are excited because the response to the announcement of the workshop has been awesome! We are expecting approximately 30 grad students and post docs visiting from a wide range of esteemed institutions who besides getting to enjoy sunny San Diego will be getting hands-on training on the secrets of QIIME, VAMPS, and QIITA. To …

NAS Meeting: Microbiomes of the Built Environment: From Research to Application

Got an e-mail reminder today from the organizers of this NAS meeeting… sounds pretty relevant for people studying the microbiology of the built environment!  :)    Detailed information below:   Register Now: Microbiomes of the Built Environment Meeting Monday, April 11, 10:30 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. EDT The National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue …

Use of Copper in Structures and the Growing Resistant Bacteria

Interesting article addressing the risks of using copper in human structures for its antimicrobial qualities.  Copper resistant bacteria could prove to be a risk for human health, as certain parts of the human immune system (notably macrophages) utilize it to dispatch potentially dangerous microbes.  While many places use copper as a safety measure against harmful …

Paper: “Undergraduate Bioinformatics Workshops Provide Perceived Skills”

Just a quick post here.  I found this paper in JMBE when I was browsing in a special connection of ethics in biology.  This was in the same volume of the journal and it struck me as something some people might find interesting.  It is an article about undergraduate bioinformatics training: Undergraduate Bioinformatics Workshops Provide Perceived …

A Figshare Collection on Microbiology of the Built Environment

I got an email the other day about a new feature at Figshare.  It was about a new feature they have called “Collections“. But before I describe that I should probably describe Figshare.  Figshare is a repository for depositing and sharing various digital objects including not just Figures (which they name kind of implies … …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, March 26, 2016

Your weekend update: Microbes and drinking water Diversity of ribosomal 16S DNA- and RNA-based bacterial community in an office building drinking water system – Jenni Inkinen – Journal of Applied Microbiology  (See also their 2014 Water Research paper about same system) Next-generation sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was used to characterize …