Constructed in 2009 in the highly populated South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) facility contains labs that operate at biosafety levels 2, 3 and 4. Due to its location the NEIDL has faced a raft of legal and regulatory hurdles that have prevented BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs from becoming functional.

“Threading the NEIDL,” is a 1-hour documentary produced by MicrobeWorld (the public outreach website by the American Society for Microbiology) and narrated by Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D., Higgins Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University, which explores how the NEIDL is secured from unauthorized entry, what's like to wear a BSL-4 level safety suit, how the facility is constructed to make it safe, and how workers carry out experiments with highly dangerous viruses such as Ebola virus and Lassa virus without jeopardizing their health or that of the surrounding community.

This is a never before seen look at how one of America's state of the art biodefense research facilities operates and the security measures put in place to keep it safe, even in the heart of a major urban center.

This documentary was filmed in conjunction with Boston University School of Medicine and the popular science podcast This Week in Virology, which is also hosted by Vincent Racaniello.

No bacterium lives alone – it is constantly encountering members of its own species as well as other kinds of bacteria and diverse organisms like viruses, fungi, plants and animals. To navigate a complex world, microbes use chemical signals to sense and communicate with one another.

Recorded live on January 28th, 2013, at ASM's headquarters, catch a glimpse into the fascinating language of bacteria with discussions by Bonnie Bassler, Princeton University, and Steven Lindow, University of California, Berkley.

In MicrobeWorld Video episode 66 Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Curtis Suttle, Professor of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Microbiology & Immunology, and Botany, and Associate Dean of Science University of British Columbia. 

Dr. Suttle is one of the World's leading marine virologists, and is among a small group of researchers that is credited with launching the field of marine virology. Dr. Maloy talks with Dr. Suttle about the incredible diversity of the ocean's microscopic inhabitants that have long been overlooked. 

The oceans are mostly microbial, 98% by weight, which means most of what is going on in the oceans is unseen and until recently largely unknown. Dr. Suttle explains the large role that ocean viruses play in keeping our planet alive. In fact, Dr. Suttle points out that viruses do more to create life than take it away. If you were to take the viruses out of the ocean much of the planet's life-cycle would stop, there would be no more photosynthesis. Viral replication drives the major bio-geochemical cycles on Earth. 

Dr. Suttle also discusses transposons, "the world's first immune system," phage and using genomic sequencing to do ecology outside of the lab environment.

 This episode was recorded at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia on February 17, 2012.

In episode 64 of MicrobeWorld Video, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Anne Tanner Ph.D., BDS, MDCH (Hon.), Associate Professor at Harvard School of Dental Medicine about her research into dental caries and the oral microbiome. This episode was filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Vancouver, Canada on February 18th, 2012.

Anne's work with Streptococcus mutans, the leading know cause of Early Childhood Caries (ECC), has led to the discovery of a new bacterium, Scardovia Wiggsiae. This discovery was the result of using modern molecular techniques combined with traditional anaerobic culture methods perfected in the practice of periodontology. Anne is now working with this new bacterium to see if it's a caries pathogen.

Anne discusses the role probiotics have played in the treatment and prevention of dental caries. She is optimistic that these good bacteria can be effective in the battle against harmful oral bacterium.

Finally, Anne talks about being one of only a few people who has more than one microbe (Prevotella Tannerae and Tannerella forsythia) named after her.

In episode 63 of MicrobeWorld Video, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Forest Rohwer Ph.D., Professor of Biology, San Diego State University, about his research on the microbes of the ocean, coral reefs and the human lung. This episode was filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Vancouver, Canada on February 18th, 2012.

Viruses make up a large portion of the world's oceans, with over ten million per milliliter of seawater. Rohwer's interest in better understanding these viruses led him to becoming an expert in marine virology and a founder of the field of viral metagenomics. 

Forest discovered that these viruses are very good at controlling the number and type of bacteria in the ocean and through the process of gene transfer possess the potential to change marine bacteria into human pathogens. 

Among Forest's other interests are coral reefs. He has studied the link between humans inhabiting the land around coral reefs and the decaying health of the corresponding coral. 

Forest also studies cystic fibrosis, a disease of the human lung, which mimics what he sees going on with the health of coral reefs. Rohwer explains how his work across many different scientific disciplines has helped his research interests broaden while leading to new discoveries unlikely to have been made without the knowledge and tools of other scientific fields. 

In episode 61 of MicrobeWorld Video, filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Vancouver, Canada on February 17th, 2012, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Richard Lenski Ph.D., Hannah Professor of Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, about his research into the evolution of bacteria and the new frontier of digital evolution.

Lenski's Long Term Evolution Experiment with E. coli has seen over 50,000 new generations since its inception in 1998. This has led to insights such as how viruses can evolve from types that don't infect humans to ones that do.

Lenski's work with E. coli has also led him into the digital world. Using computers, Lenski can achieve precise, rapid results by manipulating digital organisms. Software that evolves much like bacteria in the real world.

Lenski is optimistic about the future of evolution research. Applying the generalities that have resulted from his studies to any number of other microbial species. He also sees large potential in applying what he's learned to the study of antibiotic resistance and bioengery. 

The American Society for Microbiology at the USA Science and Engineering Festival 2012 in Washington, D.C. Learn what kids have to say about the science and microbiology and the various educational resources ASM offers to students, teachers and parents alike.

Filmed on April 27-28, 2012 at the USA Science and Engineering Festival inWashington, D.C.

Special thanks:

ASM Volunteers

ASM Staff

Students and Attendees

Cameras

Edited and Produced by:

All views, comments and opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily represent those of the American Society for Microbiology.

In episode 59 of MicrobeWorld Video, filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Vancouver, BC Canada on February 17, 2012, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Anne Jones, D. Phil., Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Bioenergy and Photosynthesis, Arizona State University, about why her research into harvesting excess light energy has promising potential as an energy alternative. 

Anne explains why photosynthesis is an inefficient process and how she's attempting to improve its efficiency by using cyanobacteria to absorb and transfer light energy into a usable fuel product.

Listen to Vincent Racaniello and guests Connor Bamford, Ron Fouchier, Wendy Barclay and Richard Elliott, in a live-streaming episode of This Week in Virology from the Society for General Microbiology 2012 Spring Conference in Dublin, Ireland. In his show, Racaniello discuses the H5N1 research publication controversy and emerging bunyaviruses.