The way we design and build our houses could have a surprising impact on a tiny, but important, aspect of our personal lives: the microscopic organisms that share those homes with us.

A groundbreaking study published Friday in the journal Science Advances finds that certain aspects of a house’s design could have an influence on the types of microbes found inside, with more urban homes separating humans from the outdoors and keeping out the environmental microbes we once evolved to coexist with. And, the researchers speculate, these changes could be having an impact on public health.

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