Matters Microbial #127: Even Your Navel Has Them — An Archaea‑Whisperer Explores April 7, 2026

Today Dr. Nahui Medina-Chavez, postdoctoral scholar in the Travisano laboratory at the University of Minnesota, joins the Quality Quorum to discuss her interest in the ubiquitous archaea, and her own research studying experimental evolution in extreme halophiles.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Nahui Medina-Chavez

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Links for this episode

• Here is an article on R2A, which is used to cultivate water associated microbes.
• A solid and clear article describing the "great uncultivated majority."
• An article describing the discovery of the archaea.
• An engaging video summary of the archaea.
• A recent article suggesting that archaea are the root and originator of eukaryotes like ourselves!
• An interesting video about the lokiarcheota, which contain the genetic echoes of eukaryotic life.
• An article about the extremely halophilic archaea.
• Do extreme halophiles live within salt crystals?
• The beautiful pink pigment, bacteriorhodopsin, associated with these archaea (despite the "bacterio" portion of the name).
• The LTEE experiment, describing how researchers can study evolution in the laboratory.
• Genomic islands in microbiology.
• The "Archaeal Power Hour" website.
• A fine video presentation by Dr. Medina-Chavez on archaea.
• A fine article by Dr. Medina-Chavez and her postdoctoral advisor Dr. Michael Travisano on archaeal communities.
• Dr. Medina-Chavez's Research Gate website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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