Humans have evolved alongside microbes in Earth's environment that help strengthen our immune systems. But sterile living conditions can reduce that beneficial exposure

“Future built environments, including space stations, could benefit from intentionally fostering diverse microbial communities that better mimic the natural microbial exposures experienced on Earth, rather than relying on highly sanitized spaces,” says co-first author Rodolfo Salido at UC San Diego.

The ISS’s microbial environment most closely resembles a hospital isolation room. It could be making astronauts sick.

The overly sterile environment of the International Space Station is missing important microbes, a new detailed map shows. If we want to live off Earth, we may need to take more of our bacterial frien

Astronauts in isolated space habitats could benefit from the intentional fostering of diverse microbes from humanity's evolutionary past, a new study suggests.