You Know Your Field Has Made It When …

I have nothing to add to this. The Onion picks up on the recent study by Caporaso and colleagues A study that swabbed office buildings in major cities found that the bacterial profile of the swabs corresponded to their location, suggesting that cities each have their own “bacterial fingerprint.” What do you think? Source: Study: …

#TakeASample for National Citizen Science Day

I always looks forward to spending a chunk of my Friday listening to Science Friday. This segment is too good not to share… Science Club is back! Ariel Zych and Charles Bergquist, the awesome Science Club hosts, are celebrating National Citizen Science Day (April 16) with a new Science Club they are calling #TakeASample. This is awesome challenge …

Probiotics for Livestock – Reducing Antibiotic Reliance

In the wake of the Obama administration’s plan to decrease antibiotic usage in livestock, farmers are now trying to find alternatives that have fewer ecological and human health impacts. In an effort to reduce reliance on antibiotics, researchers at Iowa State University are testing if Lactobacillus species found in yogurt might have a similar health effect on livestock as …

Raising Awareness of Drug-Resistant Food Poisoning

A recent NPR article raised the concern of drug-resistant food poisoning. Specifically, Ciprofloxacin-resistant Shigella. This strain was imported with US travellers coming from all over the world, but has now spread around the nation. Doctors are now starting to treat multi-drug resistant Shigella using IV instead of oral antibiotics. The article states: Multidrug-resistant Shigella has caused several outbreaks …

Humans living underground – doesn’t look like fun, but interesting topic for #microbiome work

Heard this story on NPR yesterday:  ‘A Universe Beneath Our Feet’: Life In Beijing’s Underground : NPR.  It discusses the growing trend in Beijing for people to be living in apartments / basements comlpetely underground.  This is happening for multiple reasons and it clearly has some potential big consequences.  It does seem like a possible …

Winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize, Shigeru Ban has a microbial connection …

Just read this from NPR – In The Face Of Disaster, Pritzker Winner Shigeru Ban Designs Solutions : NPR.  It tells the story of how architect Shigeru Ban has won the prestigious Pritzker Prize in architecture.  In addition to being a very socially conscious architect, Ban also has an interesting connection to microbes and building design. …