Doctoral Dissertation Research: Skeletal Biomarkers of Indoor Air Pollution During the Agricultural Transition

火是人类历史中不可分割的一部分，它的使用导致了关键的技术、文化和生物变化，形成了跨越时间和空间的人类经验框架。然而，人类生物学、文化和使用火的副产品--尤其是烟雾中的副产品--之间的关系仍然被严重地研究得不够。尤其是在农业转型时期，建筑设计、燃料消耗和劳动分工方面的新文化选择使人类暴露在高水平的室内空气污染中。这是一个长期存在的问题，今天仍然影响着世界各地的许多人。这一博士论文研究项目使用了一种实验方法来解决暴露在室内空气污染中如何塑造骨骼的矿物质和蛋白质成分，这样做提供了一个新的机会，以了解室内空气污染如何影响骨骼健康，并识别骨骼遗骸中的肺部疾病，而不依赖于其他可能并不总是保存下来的证据，如软组织或DNA。这项研究的结果将为人类火灾相关技术的发展和相关的健康影响提供一个新的视角。该项目对本科生进行实验室技术和在当地社区的科学宣传方面的培训，并帮助向广大公众传播该项目的成果。长期暴露在室内空气污染中会损害肺组织，扰乱全身的微生物群落。该项目的核心方法结合了同位素分析和16S核糖体RNA遗传数据。氧同位素被用来评估受损的肺泡如何形成氧同位素分馏，并对形成骨磷酸盐的身体水池做出贡献。碳和氮同位素，以及16S核糖体RNA数据，被用来研究口腔和肠道微生物群以及宿主相关免疫反应的变化如何塑造骨胶原的同位素组成。这个项目的结果阐明了室内空气污染对骨骼的影响，并提供了一个工具，用来调查这个和未来的项目可以跨时间和空间调查室内空气污染对健康的影响。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Fire is an inextricable part of human history, and its use has resulted in pivotal technological, cultural, and biological changes that shaped frameworks of human experience across time and space. However, the relationships between human biology, culture, and the byproducts of fire use – specifically those in smoke – have remained critically understudied. This is particularly the case during the time of the agricultural transition, when new cultural choices in architectural design, fuel consumption, and division of labor exposed human populations to high levels of indoor air pollution. It is a problem that has persisted through time and still affects many populations throughout the world today. This doctoral dissertation research project uses an experimental approach to address how exposure to indoor air pollution shapes the mineral and protein components of bone, and in so doing offers a new opportunity to understand how indoor air pollution shapes bone health and to identify pulmonary disease in skeletal remains independent of other evidence that might not always preserve, such as soft tissue or DNA. The results of this study will inform a new perspective regarding the development of human fire-related technologies and associated health repercussions. This project trains undergraduate students in laboratory techniques and science outreach within their local communities and help in disseminating the findings of the project with the public at large. Chronic exposure to indoor air pollution damages lung tissue and perturbs microbial communities throughout the body. The core methodological approach of this project employs a combination of isotope analysis and 16S ribosomal RNA genetic data. Oxygen isotopes are used to assess how damaged lung alveoli shape oxygen isotope fractionation and contribute to the body water pool from which bone phosphate forms. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes, together with 16S ribosomal RNA data, are used to investigate how changes in the oral and gut microbiomes and host-associated immune response shape the isotopic composition of bone collagen. Results from this project elucidate the effects of indoor air pollution on the skeleton and provide a tool with which this and future projects can investigate the health repercussions of indoor air pollution across time and space.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.