New papers on microbiology of the built environment, January 18, 2016

New papers from the past week on the interactions between humans, buildings, and microbes. Microbes in buildings  Comprehensive analysis of the skin fungal microbiota of astronauts during a half-year stay at the International Space Station – Takashi Sugita – Medical Mycology ($$) The International Space Station (ISS) is a huge manned construct located approximately 400 km …

Household air microbial community resembles that of household surface and occupant’s skin? Maybe, maybe not…

Household air microbial community resembles that of household surface and occupant’s skin? Maybe, maybe not… By Marcus Leung (Twitter @leungmarcus) Indoor microbial communities, such as those found in indoor air and indoor surfaces, have been shown to be closely connected to microbial assemblages on humans. Also, re-suspension of house dust from surfaces following routine residential …

Skin Microbiome at the Roller Derby

Not surprisingly, the skin microbiome changes accordingly with human contact, according to this study found through PeerJ. Researchers aimed to study a high contact sport and see how the skin microbiome changes before and after a game. They used roller derby, and as anyone who has watched the movie Whip it! will know, there is a …

Navel gazing – microbial style

Rob Dunn of North Carolina State University has written a charming and fascinating piece on the microbes that inhabit our belly buttons. You can find it here on the Scientific American blog site (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/11/07/after-two-years-scientists-still-cant-solve-belly-button-mystery-continue-navel-gazing/). I strongly recommend it for the skill of his writing as well as the extremely interesting insights into the microbes in …