Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-12-21)

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BloombergBusinessweek December 21, 2020

Probiotic-PoweredMulti-SurfaceCleanserandCounterCulture

ProbioticCleaningTonic.“Wecleanthewaynaturehasbeen

cleaningfor4 billionyears... withprobiotics,”readsCounter

Culture’swebsite.Theideais todeployanarmyofmicrobes

thateatawayatdirt,debris,andorganicmatter,alsodegrad-

ingthestuffleftincracksandcrevices.LastyearevenReckitt

BenckiserLLCintroduceda probioticcleanercalledVeo,

whichthecompanysayswill“helpcontributetothebalanc-

ingofthehomemicrobiome.”

Goinga stepfurther,scientistsare studyingwhether

salubriousenvironmental microbescanbeintroduced

intourbanhomestoreducetheprevalenceofinflamma-

torydiseases.InFinland,onegroupseededthedoormats

ofcitydwellerswithabout 30 grams(1 ounce)offorestsoil

soresidentscoulddragoutdoormicrobesinside.Thesix-

monthexperimentshowedtherugsdidshifttheindoorair

toincludemoreoutdoormicrobes.Nexttheresearcherswant

toruna large-scalestudytoseewhetherforest-soil-impacted

rugscanimprovetheimmunesystemsofinfantsandyoung

children.(AnotherFinnishgroupis bypassingtherugsand

simplysmearinginfantswitha soilpreparationtofindoutif

therearehealthbenefits.)

Sofarnooneknowsexactlywhichoutdoormicrobesare

beneficialorhowmuchexposureis best.Still,anumberof

startupsaremarketingbacteriaspraysforhomesandbusi-

nesses.Belgium-basedTakeAiradvertisesan“airenricher”

thatdispersessoil-andocean-derivedmicrobesthroughexist-

ingventilationsystemstocreate“a100%naturalandpro-

tectivebiosphereforyourbuildingusers.”Clientsinclude

a Belgianchainofgymsanda housingprojectinAntwerp.

Anotherfront-runner,BetterairinIsrael,sells“theworld’sfirst

organicairandsurfaceprobiotic,”a freestandingmicrobemis-

terthatretailsfor$400.(Refillcartridgesare$99.)

It’sonlya matteroftimebeforethesetechnologiesbecome

betterunderstoodandmorewidespread.“There’sabsolutely

fascinatingresearchtobedone,”Gilbertsays.“Iwanttomaybe

engineerbacillussoit haspropertiesthatcanstimulatethe

immunesystemsofpeopleina room.”VandenWymelenberg

is alsohopeful:“There’snoreasonthisstuffcan’twork,”he

says.“We’realreadyheavilymanipulatingthemicrobesinour

buildings,justnotdeliberately.”

O

n a TuesdayafternooninJune,Leungtakesmycall

whileteachinghis18-year-oldsontodrive.Asked

abouttheprobioticairenhancers,helaughs.

“Itactuallysaysa lotabouthumanbeings,”hesays.“We’ve

createdbuildingssosterilethatnowwehavetobuynature

andsprayit backin.That’showsillyweare.”

Perhapsthepandemicwillserveasa wake-upcall.“This

is ourchancetorightourwrongsofthepast 200 years,”he
says,speakingofrestoringourrelationshipwithsoils,plants,
andanimals.Itwon’tbeeasy.Overthenext 40 years,the
totalamountofindoorsquarefootagewillroughlydouble
worldwide,reportssciencejournalistEmilyAnthesinher
bookTheGreatIndoors.GiventhehorrorsofCovid,many
businessesandbuildingmanagerswillalsoworktheirhard-
esttosanitizeindoorenvironmentslikeneverbefore,perhaps
causingunintendedconsequences.
Inthemeantime, theclimate crisisis compounding
potentialhealthrisksasflooding,wildfires,andman-made
disastersdestroythenaturalworld,exposingustodangerous
newdiseaseswhileannihilatingthemicrobeswelikelyneed
topreventwidespreadchronicillness(nottomentionthose
wemayneedasmedicines).Already,Leungsays,urbanairis
oftendepletedofhealthfulnaturalbacteria.“Inthewinter-
time,whentheleavesaregonefromtrees,doyouknowwhat
themainthingis youfindinurbanair?”heasks.“Microbes
fromanimalfeces.”
Still,thepandemicmaybechangingourperspectiveon
indoorlife—andevenphysicallyalteringourmicrobiomes.
Althoughsomepeoplearecleaningtoomuch,eatingmore
junkfood, anddrinkingmorealcohol,prescriptionsfor
antibioticsaremarkedlydownfromlastyear,according
totheCentersfor DiseaseControlandPrevention.One
explanationis a decreaseinnon-Covidillnessesasa resultof
socialdistancing.
Andthoughpeoplearen’tminglingasmuchorsharing
microbes—whichcanbebeneficialwhenpathogensaren’t
involved—those lucky enough to live where they
aren’trequiredtoholeupindoorsarespendingmoretimein
nature.“Imean,I seeneighborsoutsideI didn’tevenknow
existed,andthey’reworkingindirtthatthey’repretendingis
a garden,”onemicrobiomeexpertsays.Asbusinessesallow
employeestoworkfromhome,manyarealsoabandoning
urbanlifeforgreenersettings.
Butwinteris uponus,andthepandemicis surgingonce
againasmorepeoplemoveindoors.If wedon’tadjustour
lifestyleandstartmakingourbuildingshealthierfroma
microbialstandpointnow,Leungsays,we’llgethiteven
harder.“Ifyouthinkthispandemicisbad,waitanother
50 yearswhenwehavea mucholderpopulationandmuch
higherhealth-carecosts.”
Inthenot-so-distantfuture,hewarns,threeinterrelated
factors will increasingly affect our well-being: climate change,
chronic health problems, and more pandemics. “We’re going
to have to design for that,” Leung says. “And it’s going to be
important to bring humans and nature together again—like
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731; PHOTOS: AGEFOTO (1), LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (1), SCIENCE SOURCE (5) in heaven.”

“there’s no reason this stuff can’t work.

we’re already heavily manipulating the microbiome

in our buildings, just not deliberately”