Toward a microbial Neolithic revolution in buildings

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Environmental Science
• Architecture

Background:

• The first Neolithic revolution established agriculture for macroscopic food, yet human interaction with microbes remains largely unmanaged.
• Buildings, like bodies, host microbial communities, but lack cultivated niches for beneficial microbial metabolism.
• Transient events like floods can cause long-lasting moisture damage and microbial growth in buildings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the concept of cultivating benign microbiomes within the built environment, drawing parallels with human microbiome research.
• To identify methods for assessing and potentially cultivating healthful microbial ecosystems in buildings.
• To investigate the relationship between microbial biodiversity in buildings and human health.

Main Methods:

• Proposing non-invasive "building tomography" to detect moisture and "sentinel microbes" to record microbial growth.
• Introducing "seed" microbes as metabolically inert cells that can grow when conditions are favorable.
• Leveraging microbiome next-generation sequencing (NGS) to measure microbial diversity.

Main Results:

• The study suggests that buildings currently lack established niches for cultivating beneficial microbial metabolism.
• Transient events can lead to cumulative, long-lasting moisture damage and microbial proliferation.
• The hygiene and microbial biodiversity hypotheses suggest a link between microbial exposure and immune system health.

Conclusions:

• Cultivating benign microbiomes in buildings is a necessary next step, analogous to the human microbiome project.
• Understanding the unintended consequences of the first Neolithic revolution is crucial for the successful implementation of the "microbial Neolithic revolution."
• Further research is needed to develop methods for assessing and cultivating beneficial microbial communities in the built environment.