Research Design Connection: Microbes!
Environmental microbes, and how they influence how we think and behave, were a hot topic of discussion at NeoCon this year. A 2016 article in Building and Environment, whose text is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132316303419, shares important insights on these topics. Adams and her team report that “Buildings represent habitats for microorganisms that can have direct or indirect effects on the quality of our living spaces, health and wellbeing.” The researchers organize their discussion as answers to 10 questions that they feel indicate “important lessons learned regarding the microbiology of buildings and suggest future areas of investigation.” These questions are: “Q1) What does the microbiome of a typical indoor environment look like? Q2) How do building characteristics, including occupants and their behaviors, influence the indoor microbiome? Q3) How do moisture problems alter typical indoor microbiomes? Q4) How does the microbiome affect indoor chemistry, and how do chemical processes and the …
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