Analyzing Microbes in Hospitals

            Microbes are tiny, most of the time, unicellular organisms, they live everywhere.  They are on every surface imaginable even on and in the human body. Microbial ecology is a recent science; researchers are trying to figure out everything they can about the dynamic sing celled organisms. The article titled “Cleansing the Clinic” is written about the Hospital Microbiome Project. The team included in this article is headed by Jack Gilbert. Their goal is to take data samples of a newly built hospital, nurses, staff, patients, and commonly touched areas, in order to gain more knowledge about microbes, and their paths. The scientists hope to learn more about how to keep dangerous microbes out of hospitals and how to keep the rooms cleaner. This article appeals to audiences using credibility and reason.

            This article was written by Beth Marie Cole, she has taken the time to interview and conduct research about microbes and the hospital microbiome project. Jack Gilbert is a highly credible researcher from the University of Chicago. He has dedicated his whole life to microbial ecology and would like to improve the health of hospitals to ultimately improve the human health. Jack and his team have developed a hypothesis that states, “That bugs from long-term patients will become acclimated to their rooms, whereas rooms with shorter-term patients will be more susceptible to shifting populations,” (Cole). They have decided to take samples daily of all participating patients, staff, and commonly touched areas of the hospital. They would like to determine the pathways of microbes and how they affect the environment of the hospitals. They do know that microbes are brought in by all patients and staff, and each person can carry microbes out of the hospital as well. Their ultimate goal is to, “inform the design of methods to promote healthy microbial communities that elbow out pathogens—a kind of probiotic supplement for your hospital room,” (Cole). This study could help humans protect themselves against microbes.

            Most people in hospitals care about their health and the health of others around them. People check into hospitals to get better and sometimes are concerned with catching a worse disease. Nurses and staff are also concerned with patients’ health and their own. If the hospital microbiome project could reveal helpful data to keep hospitals cleaner and patients health, people would have a sense of relief. New cleaning methods could arise from the data and could help to sanitize the area and keep patients healthy.

            Jack Gilbert and his team have a developed a hypothesis that could potentially be successful in providing new theories about microbes and human health. Cole wrote a successful article about how Gilbert’s hard work will benefit human life. This article appeals to readers using reason and credibility. This study will provide some answers and might raise some questions, but ultimately will improve health all around the world.

 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33730/title/Cleansing-the-Clinic/