Environmental Microbiome
The environmental microbiome constantly fuels our microbiome with microbiota. Mainly during childhood the contact with a highly diverse environmental microbiome is essential for the development of the immune system. However we are facing a significant decline in the diversity of the environmental microbiome mainly in urban environments and indoor, which is often accompanied by evolving new microbial genotypes which harbor antibiotic resistance genes or the invasion of new pathogens. This requires a rethinking of urban planning and structuring. Together with architects and urban planners we develop strategies to increase microbial diversity in cities and to avoid the invasion of detrimental microbiota on the level of complete townships, individual buildings as well as in the indoor environment.
The environmental microbiome constantly fuels our microbiome with microbiota. Mainly during childhood the contact with a highly diverse environmental microbiome is essential for the development of the immune system. However we are facing a significant decline in the diversity of the environmental microbiome mainly in urban environments and indoor, which is often accompanied by evolving new microbial genotypes which harbor antibiotic resistance genes or the invasion of new pathogens. This requires a rethinking of urban planning and structuring. Together with architects and urban planners we develop strategies to increase microbial diversity in cities and to avoid the invasion of detrimental microbiota on the level of complete townships, individual buildings as well as in the indoor environment.
