Single-Cell Office Mates, by the Tens of Millions by Sindya Bhanoo

                                                             By Chris Gash

Those office spaces you keep so organized, may also need to be kept cleaner. Research is showing that offices in New York tend to have more bacteria than the offices in San Francisco. Is the place you work the only factor? It has also been noticed that men's offices tend to have more bacteria than women's. Showing a increase of about 10-20% from women's offices to men's, what could possibly be the cause? The possibility that men have more surface area because they are bigger could be a factor, or just the fact that they tend to be less hygienic than women can add to it as well. These bacteria aren't necessarily making people sick, as there has been no evidence of sickness in the workplace, it gives insight to the bacteria that we live with on a day-to-day basis. 

Knowing that men's offices carry more bacteria than women's tends to make you think what else carries more bacteria. Something as simple as an office, where you aren't bringing much into besides maybe your lunch and some paperwork, seems like there should be a minuscule amount of bacteria. There is always the possibility for men to start to clean their offices more often to keep the amount of bacteria down, but maybe it has to do with them as a person bringing things into the office. Hygiene plays such a huge role in the health of a person, and the health of people around them that you would think that men would work harder to keep everything cleaner.

Looking into these bacteria can be helpful in the case that people in offices are starting to get ill, but until then it is just nice to know what you are living in. When I think of bacteria I think of illness, but knowing that there are bacteria that people are working in everyday doesn't make them sick, it eases my mind on the idea that not all bacteria are bad

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/science/mens-offices-have-more-bacteria-study-finds.html?ref=science&_r=0

Friendly Bacteria Keep Your Skin's Defenses in Check

The article begins with talking about something everyone can relate to, the nasty bacteria on our skin. When thinking about it you probably get a little squeamish thinking about things living on you, but Geddes shockingly shows us how a few of these bacteria may be helpful to us. Those bacteria are Staphylococcus, when I think of this word I immediately think of staph infections. "How could that be helpful to your health?" a question I asked myself while reading this article. It turns out that the Staphylococcus helps cut down on inflammation by releasing lipoteichoic acid (LTA). Granted inflammation is key to helping heal injuries, too much inflammation causes psoriasis. To keep these bacteria intact, limiting the amount of antibacterial soaps is necessary. Usage of these soaps is helpful but in moderation. This article really helps get a better understanding of how even the things that we think we should get rid of help us in the long run, granted there are definitely things that we need to be rid of. Looking into the science of how things that we thought harmful are actually helping us really gives a feeling of hope for the cure of so much more than just a skin infection, it leaves the possibility for so much more that we once thought harms us, in the end helps with other more important things. 

"Friendly Bacteria Keep Your Skin's Defences in Check." - Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2014.