Applications being accepted for the 1st Microbiology of the Built Environment Gordon Research Conference

This should be really really good.  This summer there is a Gordon Conference (what should be the first of many) on Microbiology of the Built Environment. The theme of this meeting is Integrating Human Health with Building Microbiomes. The Chairs are Jordan Peccia and Jessica Green and it takes place July 15-20, 2018 at the University of …

So you want to run FACS on your microbiome samples…

So you want to run FACS on your microbiome samples… By Cara Pardon Although optimized for eukaryotic cell research, an increasingly common technique used in the microbiome field is Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS).  From sorting cells for single cell genomics to identifying the host range of a plasmid; from detecting metabolically active cells in …

Assessing biochemical activity and metagenomic codes to a “T”

We’re recruiting a student/postdoc for this project! If it sounds interesting, please contact the Huttenhower Lab! We were happy to hear that we’ve been funded by the Sloan Foundation to continue our study of microbes on the Boston subway. Our original study involved 1) identifying which microbes were resident in this built environment, 2) understanding …

Reports from #LAMG16 Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes

Collecting together here some reports from the Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes Meeting David Coil’s summaries Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomics #LAMG16: Day 4 and Random Thoughts Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes #LAMG16: Day 3 Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomics #LAMG16 Report: Day 2 Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomics #LAMG16 Report: Day  From me microbiology of the Built Environment session …

Emily Anthes on “Can science build the perfect workspace? ” #BuiltEnvironment #microbiomes

Windows, desks and employees are being wired up in a quest to create healthy, evidence-based environments. Interesting article by Emily Anthes in Nature: The office experiment: Can science build the perfect workspace? : Nature News & Comment It focuses on a collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and a design firm – Delos to create something called the …

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 …

The Jefferson Memorialome? The Jeffersonome? The Jefferson Microbiome? A biofilm by any other name …

Who wants a new project?  Seems like they could use some microbiology of the built environment experts to provide additional help on this one:  Officials fret as fungi, algae and bacteria leave growing stains on hallowed stone. Source: A grimy, black biofilm is starting to cover the Jefferson Memorial, and it can’t be killed – …

Guest post from Dr. Koh Tse Hsien on “Clinical microbiology and Social Media”

This is a guest post from  Dr. Koh Tse Hsien who maintains the blog Microcosm and also is in the Pathology Department at Singapore General Hospital. Clinical microbiology and social media We are a diagnostic laboratory that provides bacteriology services to a busy 1600-bedded tertiary care hospital in Singapore (http://www.sgh.com.sg). We receive about 360,000 specimens a year. …

Don’t Cry. Don’t Raise Your Eye. It’s Only Microbe Wasteland

These will almost certainly be of interest to the MoBE community.  There is a new paper in mSystems “Geography and Location Are the Primary Drivers of Office Microbiome Composition” by John Chase, Jennifer Fouquier, Mahnaz Zare, Derek L. Sonderegger, Rob Knight, Scott T. Kelley, Jeffrey Siegel, J. Gregory Caporaso.  I found out about the paper via …

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 …