built environment
ObservationIndoor Dust as a Matrix for Surveillance of COVID-19Environmental surveillance to assess pathogen presence within a community is proving to be a critical tool to protect public health, and it is especially relevant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, environmental surveillance tools also allow for the detection of asymptomatic disease carriers and for routine monitoring of a large number of people as has been shown for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring.
Editor's Pick Minireview | Applied and Environmental Science2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Built Environment Considerations To Reduce TransmissionWith the rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that results in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), corporate entities, federal, state, county, and city governments, universities, school districts, places of worship, prisons, health care facilities, assisted living organizations, daycares, homeowners, and other building owners and occupants have an opportunity to reduce the potential for...
Research Article | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesQuantifying and Understanding Well-to-Well Contamination in Microbiome ResearchMicrobiome research has uncovered magnificent biological and chemical stories across nearly all areas of life science, at times creating controversy when findings reveal fantastic descriptions of microbes living and even thriving in what were once thought to be sterile environments. Scientists have refuted many of these claims because of contamination, which has led to robust requirements, including the use of controls, for validating...
Research Article | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesKatharoSeq Enables High-Throughput Microbiome Analysis from Low-Biomass SamplesVarious indoor, outdoor, and host-associated environments contain small quantities of microbial biomass and represent a niche that is often understudied because of technical constraints. Many studies that attempt to evaluate these low-biomass microbiome samples are riddled with erroneous results that are typically false positive signals obtained during the sampling process. We have investigated various low-biomass kits and methods to...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Oral and Skin Microbiomes of Captive Komodo Dragons Are Significantly Shared with Their Habitat
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceUrban Transit System Microbial Communities Differ by Surface Type and Interaction with Humans and the EnvironmentMass transit environments, specifically, urban subways, are distinct microbial environments with high occupant densities, diversities, and turnovers, and they are thus especially relevant to public health. Despite this, only three culture-independent subway studies have been performed, all since 2013 and all with widely differing designs and conclusions. In this study, we profiled the Boston subway system, which provides 238 million...
Commentary | Applied and Environmental ScienceThe Built Environment Is a Microbial WastelandHumanity’s transition from the outdoor environment to the built environment (BE) has reduced our exposure to microbial diversity. The relative importance of factors that contribute to the composition of human-dominated BE microbial communities remains largely unknown.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceGeography and Location Are the Primary Drivers of Office Microbiome CompositionOur study highlights several points that should impact the design of future studies of the microbiology of BEs. First, projects tracking changes in BE bacterial communities should focus sampling efforts on surveying different locations in offices and in different cities but not necessarily different materials or different offices in the same city. Next, disturbance due to repeated sampling, though detectable, is small compared to that...