The saga of house dust

The dust in our homes contains an average of 9,000 different species of microbes,
a study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder analysed the dust found in 1,200 households across the US.

They discovered that the types of bacteria and fungi varied depending on where the home was located, who lived there and whether pets were present. The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Dr Noah Fierer, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, who carried out the study, said: “This is really basic natural history we are investigating here. We have known for a long time that microbes live in our homes. What we are doing is now is old-fashioned science, to see how they vary across space.”

Source: The saga of house dust