Mapping the human microbial cloud in the built environment

We spend 90% of our lives indoors and play an integral role in the built environment ecosystem.  Every skin cell we shed and breath we exhale contributes to the microbiology of the spaces where we live, work, and learn. Using microbiome data collected in a university building, we illustrate how humans shape microbial communities indoors.  Specifically, we show how the built environment microbiome is influenced by what we’re doing and what we touch.  Human-building microbial exchange has the potential to impact our health by shaping our personal microbiomes.