BioPOD

We have all heard about the importance of the gut microbiome. But how much do you know about the oral microbiome in our mouths? In the second interview with Dr Katerina Guschanski, Alastair Scott finds out all about how you can use the oral microbiome to study how antimicrobial resistance evolved through time. 

Dr Katerina Guschanski and her team extract ancient DNA from calcified dental calculus, to study their bacterial composition from before the existence of mass-produced antibiotics.

Art by Amandine Hong-Minh, editing by Elena Hartmann, produced by Liz Gaberdiel. 

In this first episode of a two-parter with Dr Katerina Guschanski, Neelakshi Varma finds out about the intricacies and quirks of primate evolution, specifically around guenon monkeys. We also learn about how Katerina accidentally found her way to working with primates, the difficulties and exciting aspects of field work in Madagascar and why you can’t really define a species. 

Edited by Frankie Swift, artwork by Liz Gaberdiel, produced by Liz Gaberdiel.

Check out some more research by the Guschanski lab here: https://www.ieg.uu.se/animal-ecology/Research+groups/guschanski-lab

In this episode of BioPod's publishing series, Severina and Dr Seema Grewal discuss the world of editing for scientific journals. Seema is the Executive Editor for the Journal of Cell Science, and talks through her journey entering publishing, advice for PhD students wanting to enter the industry, and gives helpful tips for those wanting to publish their own papers.  

In this episode of BioPod’s entrepreneurship series, Keshav and Dr. Wu Huang discuss the journey behind NucBarcoder, a species identification tool hoping to tackle the biodiversity crisis. Wu talks through some of the challenges and rewards of growing a start-up idea and how Edinburgh Innovations from the University of Edinburgh advised and helped throughout the process.

In this episode Anna and Andrea Paterlini talks about the approach to education of genetics and his experience developing a course for 2nd year bachelor students. They discuss diversity and inclusion in science and what remains to be done to be scientifically accurate when it comes to these sensitive topics in education as well as everyday life. Andrea also mentions what he and other scientists did to address the statements of the secretary of state for science (which you can find here ). And if anyone is interested, here is the author that Andrea mentioned https://www.adamrutherford.com/allbooks 

With many PhD students interested in alternative career pathways in science, we are keen to explore and demystify the world of scientific publishing. In this episode, Severina Marija Pociunaite talks to Dr Manuel Breuer, a deputy editor at Springer Nature, about his journey into scientific publishing. In particular, they explore the diversity of the role, how scientific publishing has changed in recent years, and advice for scientists preparing and submitting their manuscripts to improve their chances of acceptance.

In this episode, Haomiao chats with Professor Thorunn Helgason, the head of the School of Biological sciences at Edinburgh University. It’s been a year since Thorunn started her post here in August 2022, let’s meet her and hear how she sees the past academic year in the school, and how she expects the future to happen. And, have you also wondered how was Edinburgh Uni like years ago? Well, Thorunn doesn’t just see the university thriving today, she also witnessed the changes happened since she firstly stepped into Edinburgh Uni as a student. 

We also asked her advice for students and young professionals. So why not grab a tea and sit down with us to talk about the past, present and future about our school and yourself?

In this episode Neelakshi talks to Dr. Sandy Hetherington about the work in plant paleobotany and evolution. They discuss what are plant fossils, how and where they are formed and what they can tell us about plant history today. Sandy focuses on plant root evolution as part of his research and introduces one of the best-preserved plant fossil deposits here in Scotland, called Rhynie chert 

Find out more about Dr. Hetheringtons research here:  https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington

With the advancements of RNA synthesis techniques due to the success of the Covid-19 vaccine we are asking what other therapeutic purposes RNA could have. In this episode, Alastair Scott talks to Prof Amy Buck about her somewhat accidental journey to becoming a RNA biologist, her labs current research and her outlook on the field. In particular, they chat about the curious role of RNA as a communicator and signalling molecule.

Find out more about Prof Bucks research here: https://www.bucklab.org/

In this episode, Severina Pociunaite chats to Dr Jo Sadler about how to view plastic as a resource, that can be turned into useful chemicals. Plastic can not only be recycled, but also upcycled: by breaking it down using biotechnology and reusing the carbon to make secondary products. What kind of plastic do microbes like best? And how can the products of digestion be manufactured into something new? 

They also discuss how Dr Sadler went about setting up her own lab, including the unique challenges she faced during the start-up process.