The probiotic home: Where microbes are welcome guests!

Most of the world’s population lives in cities, and many people spend most of their days inside. A 2001 survey1 found that respondents in the United States spent 87% of their time inside sealed buildings, and a further 6% in vehicles.

The design of human structures, such as homes and offices, has been driven by a desire to keep humans isolated from animals, dirt and microbes. But scientists exploring probiotic indoor environments point to studies that suggest there are health benefits to mingling with microbes, particularly for young children.

Exposure to dust, farm animals and their associated microbes can have a positive effect on children’s immune systems. “People who grow up on a farm have a 50% reduction in the likelihood of developing atopy,” says Jack Gilbert, a pediatrician and microbiome researcher at the University of California, San Diego. Atopy, which causes people to overproduce certain kinds of antibody, can manifest as conditions such as asthma, dermatitis and food allergy.

If children’s developing immune systems need exposure to environmental microbes — and if such exposures turn out to have benefits for adults, too — then urban dwellers will often miss out.We can compare modern architecture to antibiotics. Just as the widespread use of these drugs has driven antibiotic resistance, architecture has “created its own monsters. There is evidence that autoimmune diseases, allergies and metabolic diseases, such as obesity, are influenced by the microbes that people are exposed to, and that the diversity of these microbes is decreasing.

Microbiome health and circadian health are interconnected!!!

 https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-025-03291-2/index.html?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=a49d41753b-nature-briefing-daily-20251014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-49956820