Microbial Anthropology: the convergence of microbiomes and their modern impacts, through the lens of evolution and ecology

  In a recent story published in Cell this week, I walk through my own life and career, to deliver the message that humans are changing their own microbial communities as well as those in animals and in the environment, and that health research needs a substantial dose of an evolutionary, ecological and anthropological perspective …

The hot new 10 questions concerning the microbiomes of buildings will surprise you

Ok so I made this into Clickbait.  But you really should read this and that has nothing to do with me being a co-author. The paper is “Ten questions concerning the microbiomes of buildings” and it is in “Building and Environment” a journal that I am becoming more and more appreciative of every month.  The …

Are Autonomous Sewer Robots Live-Streaming Neighborhood Microbiome Data?

Ok I saw this Tweet and I thought it sounded cool: Autonomous Sewer Robots Live-Stream Neighborhood Microbiome Data – Nickolaus Hines https://t.co/fr8Xfs8XxQ pic.twitter.com/e5mDTGU44Y – Elisabeth Bik (@MicrobiomDigest) May 5, 2016 And definitely worth looking into in more detail.  And, well, after looking I still think it is cool but not quite what the headline suggests. …

Videos of talks from “Microbiomes of the Built Environment: From Research to Application”

On April 11 there was a meeting in Washington DC that was part of an effort from a new study being conducted by the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering on “Microbiomes of the Built Environment”.  Videos and slides from the meeting have now been posted.  I have compiled them below. In addition, I …

21st Annual International Meeting on Microbial Genomes at Lake Arrowhead 9/18-22

The meeting page for the 21st Annual International Meeting on Microbial Genomes at Lake Arrowhead is now up.  This has been one of my favorite meetings for many many years (full disclosure – I am now a co-organizer and have been for the last few meetings).  Note – the meeting is NOT just about genomes – it …

The White House wants feedback from “All Microbiome-Science Champions” – give it – give it now

The White House OSTP is looking for input on microbiome work – plans, funding, resources, databases, fellowships, hires, and more.  They are collecting this information, I assume, to help guide their new microbiome related initiative(s).  I hope many many people comment including lots of people thinking about the Built Environment and its connection to microbiomes. …

PBG270 Host-Microbiome Co-evolution Week 2: Focus on Humans

I am running a journal club this quarter at UC Davis on Host Microbiome Co-evolution (see Journal Club at #UCDavis on Co-evolution of Microbiomes and Hosts for more information). It meets Mondays 12:10-1 PM. But I thought I would post here about the course and I would welcome any comments from anywhere, even if you cannot …

Session on “The Microbiome” at the AHCJ (Association of Health Care Journalists) annual meeting

There will be a session on “The Microbiome” at the AHCJ Association of Health Care Journalists annual meeting in Santa Clara, CA that may be of interest. Session Participants: Jonathan Eisen, Ph.D., professor, School of Medicine and College of Biological Sciences, University of California Susan Lynch, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, University of California, San …

MicrobiomeDigest – your daily fix of microbiome literature

Microbiomes are everywhere. Not only inside and around us, but also in the scientific literature. Not too many years ago, only a handful of microbiology laboratories were analyzing the composition of the invisible communities that surround us. Today, it feels as if every other scientist is doing something microbiome-related. New techniques such as high-throughput sequencing and …