Matters Microbial #132: What 83,000 Generations of Bacteria Reveal About Evolution June 17, 2026

Today Dr. Jeffrey Barrick, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of the Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology and the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, joins the quality quorum today to discuss how microbes can be used to study evolution itself. He will also discuss the impressive and ongoing LTEE program, the experiments that originate from it, and what they tell us about evolution.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Jeffrey Barrick

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Links for this episode

• Here is a link to an article about the late great Abigail Salyers.
• Here is what I wrote about Dr. Salyers. I learned so much from her.
• An article about the contributions of Dr. Theodosius Dobzhansky to the study of evolution.
• The concept of contingency during evolution.
• An overview of microbial evolution.
• A link to "Microbes and Evolution," a book discussed during this podcast.
• A link to "A Primer for Experimental Evolution," a book discussed during this podcast.
• The concept of Growth Advantage in Stationary Phase (GASP).
• A video about the MEGA plate experiment by Dr. Michael Baym and colleagues. This is a "must watch."
• An video about Dr. Richard Lenski, originator of the LTEE.
• Dr. Lenski's website.
• The LTEE (long term evolutionary experiment) website. There is so much here to explore.
• An excellent introduction to the LTEE.
• An article about the amazing " climbing citrate mountain" innovation during LTEE described in the podcast.
• A video by Dr. Lenski about LTEE.
• A video by Dr. Barrick that is worth your time.
• Dr. Barrick's faculty website at Michigan State University.
• Dr. Barrick's research laboratory website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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