After the recent pandemic, our use of disinfectants has increased, but are our efforts to create sterile urban environments backfiring? A new study published in the journal Microbiome has identified novel strains of microbes that have adapted to use the limited resources available in cities and shown that our everyday behaviour is changing the makeup of microorganisms in indoor environments. Specialized metabolic capacities of microbes in oligotrophic built environments. Tong et al. “Diverse and specialized metabolic capabilities...