Dr. Elizabeth Dinsdale, Matthew Flinders Fellow in Marine Biology in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, uses genomic techniques to investigate the biodiversity of microbial communities in distinct ecological niches, including coral reefs, kelp forest and shark epidermis. She discusses how shotgun metagenomics is being used to characterize the architecture of microbial communities living in the thin layer of underlying mucus on shark’s skin, and ...
May 20, 2022•43 min•Ep. 136
Dr. Mallory Choudoir, microbial ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shares how she leverages microbial culture collections to infer ecological and evolutionary responses to warming soil temperatures. She discusses complexities of the soil microbiome and microbial dispersal dynamics, and introduces fundamental concepts about the intersection between microbes and social equity. Ashley’s Biggest Takeaways: Microbial culture collections are fundamental res...
Apr 18, 2022•44 min•Ep. 135
Peter Hotez talks about the global impact and historical context of neglected tropical diseases. He also highlights important developments in mass drug administration and vaccine research and shares why he chose to publish the third edition of Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are chronic and debilitating conditions that disproportionately impact people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many...
Nov 01, 2021•46 min•Ep. 134
Rita Colwell has made major advances in basic and applied microbiology, largely focused on Vibrio cholerae . She describes several lines of evidence for the environmental niche of the bacterium, as well as her work to predict and prepare for cholera outbreaks. Colwell closes with her thoughts on why it’s a great time to be a microbiologist.
Jun 10, 2021•48 min•Ep. 133
Denise Akob discusses her studies of microbial communities of contaminated and pristine environments using life science and earth science techniques. She discusses how to figure out “who’s there,” how to optimize select natural microbial activities, and her career path into government research. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Biogeomicrobiology straddles the life science and earth science fields. This is a growing area of research in the academic setting as well as in the private sector, where one ca...
Nov 12, 2020•44 min•Ep. 132
How does tick biology influence their ability to transmit disease? Marshall Bloom explains the role of the tick salivary glands in Powassan virus transmission and the experiments that led to this discovery. He also provides a historical background for the Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton, Montana, and talks about the 3 elements to consider when working with potentially harmful biological agents. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS or by email . Julie’s Biggest Tak...
Jul 31, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 131
What kinds of microorganisms can degrade oil? How do scientists prioritize ecosystems for bioremediation after an oil spill? Joel Kostka discusses his research and the lessons from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that will help scientists be better prepared for oil spills of the future. Links for this Episode: Joel Kostka Lab Website Kostka J. et al . Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria and the Bacterial Community Response in Gulf of Mexico Beach Sands Impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. App...
May 19, 2020•50 min•Ep. 130
How do arboviruses evolve as they pass between different hosts? Greg Ebel discusses his research on West Nile virus evolution and what it means for viral diversity. He also talks about using mosquitos’ most recent blood meal to survey human health in a process called xenosurveillance. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Mosquitoes and other arthropods have limited means of immune defense against infection. One major defense mechanism is RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi uses pieces of the West Nile viral gen...
Apr 23, 2020•54 min•Ep. 129
How can the intricate relationship between soil microbiota and plants be managed for improved plant health? Linda Kinkel discusses new insights into the plant rhizosphere and the ways that some Streptomyces isolates can protect agricultural crops against bacterial, fungal, oomycete, and nematode infections. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: The soil microbiome is extremely dynamic, with boom-and-bust cycles driven by nutrient fluxes, microbial interactions, plant-driven microbial interactions, and sign...
Mar 26, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 128
Pathogenic E. coli are different than lab-grown or commensal E. coli found in the gut microbiome. Alfredo Torres describes the difference between these, the method his lab is using the develop vaccines against pathogenic E. coli , and how this same method can be used to develop vaccines against Burkholderia infections. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: coli plays many roles inside and outside the scientific laboratory: Laboratory E. coli strains used by scientists to study molecular biology. Commensal ...
Mar 02, 2020•55 min•Ep. 127
Does the fetus have a microbiome? How does the placenta prevent infection? Carolyn Coyne talks about placental structure and biology, and why studying the maternal-fetal interface remains a critical area of research. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: The placenta forms within 3-5 days post conception as a single layer of cells surrounding the fertilized embryo. These cells differentiate and develop into more complex structures. Very few microbes cause fetal disease. Of those that do, the disease-causin...
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 126
Are there drugs that can treat coronaviruses? Timothy Sheahan talks about his drug discovery work on a compound that can inhibit all coronaviruses tested so far, and tells how his career path took him to pharmaceutical antiviral research and then back to academia. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Even though the MERS-CoV was discovered as a human pathogen in 2012, it was likely percolating as a disease agent for a long time before that. Banked camel serum provides evidence that the virus had been circ...
Jan 31, 2020•53 min•Ep. 125
Viral gastroenteritis around the world causes 200,000 deaths globally each year. Mary Estes talks about her work on 2 gastroenteritis-causing viruses, rotavirus and norovirus, and tells the story of her discovery of the first viral enterotoxin. She also describes how noroviruses have changed from human volunteer studies to studies using “miniguts,” a system now used with many enteropathogenic microorganisms. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Rotaviruses and noroviruses kill 200,000 people annually, des...
Jan 10, 2020•55 min•Ep. 124
The most abundant organism on Earth lives in its seas: the marine bacterium SAR11. Steve Giovannoni describes how the origins of SAR11 provided its name, and the ways that studying SAR11 have taught scientists about ocean ecology. He also discusses how the different depths of the ocean vary in their microbial compositions and what his big questions are in marine microbiology. Different depths of the ocean have different habitats, but the microbes vary continuously, based in part on light availab...
Dec 21, 2019•55 min•Ep. 123
Can a protein be contagious? Jason Bartz discusses his work on prion proteins, which cause spongiform encephalopathy and can be transmitted by ingestion or inhalation among some animals. He further discusses how prions can exist as different strains, and what techniques may help improve diagnosis of subclinical infections. Links for this Episode: Jason Bartz Creighton University website Holec SAM, Yuan Q, and Bartz JC. Alteration of Prion Strain Emergence by Nonhost Factors. mSphere . 2019. Yuan...
Dec 06, 2019•50 min•Ep. 122
Microbial interactions drive microbial evolution, and in a polymicrobial infection, these interactions can determine patient outcome. Deb Hogan talks about her research on interkingdom interactions between the bacterium Pseudomonas and the fungus Candida , 2 organisms that can cause serious illness in cystic fibrosis patients’ lung infections. Her research aims to better characterize these interactions and to develop better diagnostic tools for assessing disease progression and treatment. Links ...
Nov 21, 2019•54 min•Ep. 121
Why is C. diff such a serious disease and what are clinical microbiologists doing to improve patient outcomes with better diagnostic tools?
Nov 18, 2019•12 min
Many hospital-acquired bacterial infections are also drug-resistant. Amy Mathers describes her work tracking these bacteria to their reservoir in hospital sinks, and what tools allowed her team to make these discoveries. Mathers also discusses her work on Klebsiella , a bacterial pathogen for the modern era. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Julie’s Biggest Takeaways Nosocomial infections are a type of opportunistic infection: one that wouldn’t ...
Nov 08, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 120
How do medical professionals incorporate microbiome science into their patient care? Ami Bhatt discusses her research on the diversity within and between human gut microbiomes, and how this research is slowly and carefully being used to build new patient care recommendations. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Julie’s Biggest Takeaways Although these terms are often used interchangeably, microbiome and microbiota represent distinct samples types:...
Oct 24, 2019•55 min•Ep. 119
Identified in the 1980s, Borrelia burgdorferi and other Lyme disease-associated spirochetes have since been found throughout the world. Jorge Benach answers questions about Lyme Disease symptoms, his role in identifying the causative bacterium, and his current research on multispecies pathogens carried by hard-bodied ticks. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways Erythema migrans (the classic bullseye rash) is the most common manifestation that drives people to go see the doctor to be diagnosed with Lyme dise...
Oct 11, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 118
Influenza is famous for its ability to mutate and evolve but are mutations always the virus’ friend? Jesse Bloom discusses his work on influenza escape from serum through mutation and how mutations affect influenza virus function and transmission. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Also available on the ASM Podcast Network app . Julie’s Biggest Takeaways Influenza is famous for its ability to mutate and evolve through two major mechanisms: Antige...
Sep 26, 2019•52 min•Ep. 117
Graciela Lorca studies genetic systems to find positive and negative microbial interactions that lead to disease. She talks about her discovery of chemical inhibitors for the citrus greening disease bacterium, Liberibacter asiaticus, and how a specific strain of Lactobacillus johnsonii modulates the immune system and may help prevent development of diabetes in people. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Also available on the ASM Podcast Network ap...
Sep 13, 2019•40 min•Ep. 116
When a new biothreat or emerging infectious agent threatens, how are diagnostic protocols put into place? It’s up to the Laboratory Response Network (LRN), a multipartner network of public health, clinical and other labs, to generate and distribute reagents, and provide training to detect these threats. Julie Villanueva, Chief of the Laboratory Preparedness and Response Branch at the CDC, talks about the LRN and how no two weeks on the job are alike. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google P...
Aug 30, 2019•42 min•Ep. 115
George F. Gao discusses how China CDC promotes global public health during outbreaks SARS and Ebola. He also talks about running a structural biology lab, the importance of both basic and translational research, and the most important discovery of the 20th century. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: China CDC was founded in 2001. Its experience with the SARS outbreak informed its response to the western Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016, having learned that viruses don’t care about national borders and...
Aug 15, 2019•46 min•Ep. 114
Bacteriophage are viruses that infect specific bacteria. Jeremy Barr discusses his discovery that phage interact with (but don’t infect) mammalian epithelial cells. He explains how these different organisms: bacteria, bacteriophage, and the mammalian host, may exist in three-way symbioses. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Also available on the ASM Podcast Network app . Julie’s Biggest Takeaways Jeremy’s work as a postdoc focused on developing a...
Aug 03, 2019•46 min•Ep. 113
Stanley Maloy discusses his career in Salmonella research, which started with developing molecular tools and is now focused on the role of Salmonella genome plasticity in niche development. He further talks about his role in science entrepreneurship, science education, and working with an international research community. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Stanley’s career began when transposon mutagenesis was a new, cutting-edge technique, and he found the best way to learn how to apply a new method wa...
Jul 19, 2019•41 min•Ep. 112
Cheese rinds contain microbial communities that are relatively simple to study in the lab while offering insight into other, more complex microbial ecosystems. Rachel Dutton discusses her work studying these cheese microbiomes, one of the few microbial ecosystem types where almost all of the microorganisms are culturable. Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Android , RSS , or by email . Also available on the ASM Podcast Network app . Julie’s Biggest Takeaways The cheese microb...
Jul 03, 2019•38 min•Ep. 111
Most diagnostic tests look for a single microorganism, or at most a limited panel of microorganisms. Charles Chiu discusses his research on metagenomic sequencing as a diagnostic tool that can identify all potential pathogens in a given patient sample. Links for this Episode: MTM Listener Survey , only takes 3 minutes! Thanks;) Charles Chiu Profile at UCSF Chiu Lab at UCSF Validation of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing Tests for Universal Pathogen Detection The Eukaryotic Gut Virome in Hem...
Jun 13, 2019•46 min•Ep. 110
While searching for lignin-degrading soil microbes, Gautam Dantas discovered growth in an antimicrobial compound-containing control! He has since studied the resistance determinants (resistome) of soil and clinical samples to determine their similarities. Julie’s Biggest Takeaways: Sequencing information is extremely useful for descriptive studies, but there’s an increasing trend in microbiome studies to use the sequencing data as a basis for forming hypotheses. These hypotheses can then be test...
May 31, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 109
Pat Brown founded Impossible Foods with a mission to replace animals as a food production technology. Here, he discusses the ways microbial engineering helps produce the plant hemoglobin that provides the Impossible Burger’s meaty qualities. Links for this episode: Take the MTM listener survey (~3 min.) The Microbial Reasons Why the Impossible Tastes So Good Impossible Foods The Conversation: What Makes the Impossible Burger Look and Taste Like Real Beef? Wired: The Impossible Burger: Inside the...
May 16, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 108
