Microbe Talk

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Laura and Professor Stephen Gordon from University College Dublin discuss tuberculosis research in both people and animals.
Find out more about Professor Gordon's research in the below articles:
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Humanity's deadly microbial foe (doi: 10.1099/mic.0.000601)
Mycobacterium bovis genomics reveals transmission of infection between cattle and deer in Ireland (doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000388)
Comparative 'omics analyses differentiate Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis and reveal distinct macrophage responses to infection with the human and bovine tubercle bacilli (doi:10.1099/mgen.0.000163)

Join Matt and Laura for this special episode of the podcast where they reflect on what took place during the Microbiology Society's Annual Conference Online 2021.

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discuss how microbes helped centipedes evolve venom, a new automated technique that could help name new microbes and why deep-sea bacteria are completely invisible to our immune system.

www.livescience.com/deep-sea-bacteria-invisible-to-human-immune-system.html
www.the-scientist.com/notebook/researchers-propose-automating-the-naming-of-novel-microbes--68411
www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/microplastics-in-sewage-become-hubs-for-drug-resistant-bacteria-study/article34176654.ece
theconversation.com/diphtheria-could-become-a-problem-again-thanks-to-new-variants-and-antimicrobial-resistance-156973
en.brinkwire.com/science/centipedes-incorporated-the-toxic-weapons-of-bacteria-and-fungi-into-their-venoms/
www.washingtonpost.com/health/most-viruses-around-us-are-benign-some-are-even-lifesaving/2021/03/12/cd833cc0-76bc-11eb-948d-19472e683521_story.html

There is probably more misinformation about vaccines on the internet than any other topic. As we are the largest learned microbiological society in the UK, we decided to do something about it. We asked three experts some of the most commonly googled questions about vaccines. Check out the video on our YouTube channel to see some of the most searched vaccine questions answered: youtu.be/gIfOVlJDCpE

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discussing the role of lizards in controlling Lyme disease, the fungus causing an amphibian apocalypse and how microbes could be used for green building materials.

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discussing the microbes beetles use to hide their food, sea star wasting disease and the inherited microbiome of plants.

We know almost nothing about giant viruses: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/01/giant-viruses-can-change-their-hosts-dna/617555/

Some bacteria are suffocating sea stars, turning the animals to goo: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bacteria-suffocating-sea-stars-wasting-disease-goo

Beetle parents manipulate information broadcast from bacteria in a rotting corpse: https://theconversation.com/beetle-parents-manipulate-information-broadcast-from-bacteria-in-a-rotting-corpse-151447

Brazilian ant farm yields new antifungal compound: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/01/20/Brazilian-ant-farm-yields-new-antifungal-compound/1471611120400/?ur3=1

Seeds transfer their microbes to the next generation: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210121131652.htm

A Sustainable Future policy reports: https://microbiologysociety.org/news/society-news/a-sustainable-future-policy-reports-published-today.html

In the first episode of 2021, Matt talks to Sreyashi Basu who with her collaborator Sanjib Bhakta, was awarded the Outreach prize for their Joi Hok! initiative. The project uses traditional art forms and music to communicate knowledge of tuberculosis to school children in India.

To find out more about Joi Hok:
Joi Hok YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6UR4H9DuDeRzqRPEUZc2pA/featured
Joi Hok Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/joihokTBcampaign/
Joi Hok Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joi.hok/?hl=en
Sreyashi Basu Twitter - https://twitter.com/sreyashibasu2?lang=en
www.joihok.org/about/

In this episode of the podcast, Laura speaks with Dr Rod Dillon, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lancaster. Rod talks about his research into the protist parasite Leishmania, and how he has combined his microbiology expertise with art to communicate science in a different way.
Rod recently received a grant from the Microbiology Society this, together with an Arts Council England grant, was used to develop and produce The Endosymbiotic Love Calendar 2021.

The calendar is on sale now on the Endosymbiotic Love Calendar website. This project brings performance artists & microbiologists together through drag to embody a microorganism for every month of 2021 and links the vitally important world of microbiological research with feminist and queer perspectives to share biological knowledge in an innovative way. Prices include postage: £15 UK mainland (£12 concession price, no question asked), £19 Europe, £20 rest of the world. 50% of the price will be donated to The Outside Project the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ Crisis/Homeless Shelter and Community Centre.

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discussing the microbes in your bed, the researchers using pig lungs to learn about cystic fibrosis and the antibiotic that could be used to treat Zika. 

Bed dust microorganisms may boost children's health, study suggests

Understanding lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis

Check out the research article in Microbiology and our video about the pig lung research model. 

Commonly used antibiotic shows promise for combating Zika infections

COVID-19 vaccines: when will one be ready?

Potential treatment against antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing gonorrhoea and meningitis

Asteroid-munching microbes could mine materials from space rocks

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discussing how microbiologists are tackling the amount of plastic waste used in laboratories, ash dieback and a COVID-19 story that Matt just couldn’t resist talking about.

This month's stories:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016164320.htm
https://microbiologysociety.org/news/press-releases/does-science-have-a-plastic-problem-microbiologists-take-steps-to-reducing-plastic-waste.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/14/tardigrades-latest-superpower-a-fluorescent-protective-shield
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54373214
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/any-breed-could-do-it-dogs-might-be-covid-testers-best-friend