Microbe Talk

In this Microbiology Today episode of Microbe Talk, Laura revisits interviews with some of the Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize winners. The Microbiology Society's Fleming Prize is awarded each year to an early career researcher who has achieved an outstanding research record within 12 years of being awarded their PhD. As part of our 75th Anniversary celebrations, the Microbiology Society planned the Fleming Showcase to celebrate the legacy of past Fleming Prize winners and to examine some of the most exciting science from around the globe.

Hear from some other Fleming Prize winners in October’s issue of Microbiology Today.

Watch the film with Professors Tracy Palmer, David Richardson and Peter Fineran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imx26YF-R30&feature=emb_title

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including a surge in plankton in the Arctic, using fungus to produce handbags and the microbiology behind June's mass elephant die-off.
Flu jabs limited due to high demand: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54273172

To find out more, check out the Flu Review episode: microbiologysociety.org/blog/microbe-…u-review.html of Microbe Talk.

A massive surge in phytoplankton has researchers pondering the future of the Arctic: www.nrdc.org/stories/massive-su…ring-future-arctic

Phages: the tiny viruses that could help beat superbugs: www.theguardian.com/global-developm…-beat-superbugs

Is there life floating in the clouds of Venus?: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54133538

That mushroom motorcycle jacket will never go out of style: www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/scienc…email&login=email

Mystery elephant deaths caused by cyanobacteria: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54234396

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed how we live and work. For scientists, this means that for the time being conferences have had to change. At the Microbiology Society, we recently held an online conference for early career microbiologists. In this month’s episode, Matt talks to Meaghan Castledine, a PhD student who spoke at the conference. They discuss how she got into microbiology, what it was like presenting at an online conference, and where her research is going next.

To find more about the Early Career Microbiologist’s Forum visit our website or LinkedIn page.
www.microbiologysociety.org/why-microbiology-matters/early-career-microbiologists-forum.html
www.linkedin.com/company/microbiology-society/

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including how insect wings are inspiring new ways to fight superbugs, an extreme fungus that could protect astronauts from deadly radiation and the huge plankton bloom off the UK coast that can be seen from space.

Acute oak decline - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8642473/Gangrene-like-disease-plaguing-English-oak-trees-caused-bacteria-beetles.html

Insect wings inspire new ways to fight superbugs - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200818103841.htm

Why doesn't Ebola cause disease in bats, as it does in people? - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200818142147.htm

Extreme Chernobyl fungus could protect astronauts from deadly radiation - https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/07/extreme-chernobyl-fungus-could-protect-astronauts-from-deadly-radiation/

In space, bacteria is even more deadly and resilient to antibiotics - https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2020/08/09/in-space-bacteria-is-even-more-deadly-and-resilient-to-antibiotics/

Huge plankton bloom off UK coast visible from space - https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-08-19/Huge-plankton-bloom-off-UK-coast-visible-from-space--T2oNj5LZLO/index.html

Last month, on 29 July, the Microbiology Society hosted a one day online workshop to support ongoing and future research around the pandemic. It was a fantastic event, headed by an organising committee of Professor Peter O’Hare, Professor Mark Harris, Professor Paul Kellam, Dr Steve Griffin and Dr Lindsay Broadbent. In this episode, Laura speaks with Lindsay, Steve and Peter about the day and how, going forward, we hope to continue to support the microbiology community in tackling the pandemic.

See our website for the the full programme of the event and check out the blog for what delegates were saying about the workshop on Twitter.

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including parasitic fungi with behaviour-changing effects, medieval medicines and the smell of sweat.

Return of the zombie cicadas: manipulative qualities of fungal-infected flyers: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200727145424.htm

Caterpillar fungus on brink of extinction: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/09/caterpillar-fungus-and-european-hamster-on-brink-of-extinction

Medieval medicine remedy could provide new treatment for modern day infections: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200728113545.htm

Turmeric could have antiviral properties: https://microbiologysociety.org/news/press-releases/turmeric-could-have-antiviral-properties.html

Deep sea microbes dormant for 100 million years are hungry and ready to multiply: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200728113533.htm

The biological mechanism behind body odour: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gene-scientists-on-scent-of-an-end-to-body-odour-hcmszcrl8

On this month’s Microbe Talk, Matt talks to Dr Arwyn Edwards; an Arctic microbiologist based at Aberystwyth University. Dr Edwards recently published a paper in Microbial Genomics entitled ‘Microbial genomics amidst the Arctic crisis’. Dr Edwards and Matt discuss the paper, the challenges of working in the Arctic and how Arctic microbial research is changing

To read the article visit: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000375

As part of our 'A Sustainable Future' policy project, the Microbiology Society's policy team have produced three special episodes of Microbe Talk to explore the role of microbiology to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. This episode, Eva speaks with Professor Alison Smith Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Emilia Wojcik, PhD student at the University of Manchester to find out how their research contributes to moving towards a circular economy as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including the effect of e-cigarettes on the microbiome, the disease decimating bananas and an incredible discovery inside a fungus. 

The National Centre for Type Cultures - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/science/bacteria-library-nctc.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesscience

What if all viruses disappeared? - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200617-what-if-all-viruses-disappeared?ocid=ww.social.link.twitter

Panama disease - https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food-test/the-pandemic-threatening-bananas.html

E-cigarettes and the microbiome - https://theconversation.com/e-cigarettes-found-to-cause-change-in-mouth-bacteria-which-could-lead-to-gum-disease-or-oral-cancer-140579

New bacteria found in fungus - http://astrobiology.com/2020/06/nasa-discovers-two-new-types-of-bacterial-life-inside-a-fungus-on-earth.html

The oral microbiome and heart disease - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200623100126.htm

As part of our 'A Sustainable Future' policy project, the Microbiology Society's policy team have produced three special episodes of Microbe Talk to explore the role of microbiology to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. This episode, Emily speaks with Professor Laura Piddock from the University of Birmingham, who is currently on secondment as the Director of Scientific Affairs, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership. In the second half of the episode, Emily speaks with Dr Anne Leonard, research fellow at the University of Exeter. Listen to the episode to find out how research into antimicrobial resistance fits into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).