I’m pleased to announced that the ‘microbes and social equity’ paper has been published as an essay in PLoS Biology, and will be included in their Microbiomes Across Biological Systems special issue.

In summer 2019, I developed and taught a course on ‘Microbes and Social Equity‘ to the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. The course assignments were literature review essays on various topics, which were compiled into a single manuscript as the group-based final project for the course. This large version is available as a preprint; however, the published version is more focused.

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“Framing the discussion of microorganisms as a facet of social equity in human health.“

Suzanne L. Ishaq^1,2*, Maurisa Rapp^2,3, Risa Byerly^2,3, Loretta S. McClellan², Maya R. O’Boyle², Anika Nykanen², Patrick J. Fuller^2,4, Calvin Aas², Jude M. Stone², Sean Killpatrick^2,4, Manami M. Uptegrove², Alex Vischer², Hannah Wolf², Fiona Smallman², Houston Eymann^2,5, Simon Narode², Ellee Stapleton⁶, Camille C. Cioffi⁷, Hannah Tavalire⁸

1. Biology and the Built Environment Center,  University of Oregon
2. Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
3. Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon
4. Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon
5. School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
6. Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon
7. Counseling Psychology and Human Services, College of Education, University of Oregon
8. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon

Abstract

What do ‘microbes’ have to do with social equity? On the surface, very little. But these little organisms are integral to our health, the health of our natural environment, and even impact the ‘health’ of the environments we have built. Early life and the maturation of the immune system, our diet and lifestyle, and the quality of our surrounding environment can all impact our health. Similarly, the loss, gain, and retention of microorganisms ⁠— namely their flow from humans to the environment and back⁠ — can greatly impact our health and well-being. It is well-known that inequalities in access to perinatal care, healthy foods and fiber, a safe and clean home, and to the natural environment can create and arise from social inequality. Here, we focus on the argument that access to microorganisms as a facet of public health, and argue that health inequality may be compounded by inequitable microbial exposure.