My guest this week is Craig Trester, New York City mycologist and founder of myc.nyc, an organisaton aimed at introducing and teaching the general public about the study of fungi and it's application for improving the environment.

Craig and I discussed a wide-range of issues pertaining to biotech and fungi, including the myriad of potential uses for fungi such as alternative protein sources, medicines and for mycoremediation. Craig emphesized the emergent properties of fungi and the similarities between how fungi networks and the neural networks in the brain. We also touched on the proper growth-oriented mindset necessary for self-learning biotch, ways to get started with learning about fungi and various ideas for starting a mushroom-focused business.

Craigs knowledge of fungi is far and wide; he understands not only the underlying microbiology of fungi but also thinks systemtically about the role of fungi in the environment and why it's important to incorporate systems-level thinking when researching this incredible organism.

My guest this week is Damon Tighe, former National Institute of Health and Human Genome Project researcher and current Bio-Rad educator and training specialist. Damon's extensive history with working with public and private biotech projects over the years has yielded a treasure trove of valuable knowledge that he enthusiastically gives back to the community.

In this episode, Damon and I cover a wide-array of topics ranging from the evolution of biotech over the last decade, how software is quickly becoming a must-have skill for future biotech workers, the need for more discussion around policy-making philosophy when it comes to human genome editing, the impact of patents on biotech research and how more open innovation in the industry can accelerate biotech research.

We barely scratched the surface of what Damon has to share! Enjoy!

Sigrid Jakob is diy biologist and amateur mycologist in Brooklyn, New York. She's the author of an easy-to-follow Fungal DNA Barcoding Guide that is circulating the online mushroom enthusiasts community and helping newcomers to mushroom identification get started with DNA-based identification.

In this episode, Sigrid and I dig into her early roots of mushroom hunting with her parents in Germany, the details of DNA barcoding, learning thousands of mushroom latin names, collecting wild dung as a source for discovering novel fungi species and building a small home DNA lab.

Sean Sullivan is a fourth-year Biotechnology Engineering PhD candidate at Tufts University's Nair Lab focused on how to genetically engineer yeast to metabolize alternate forms of carbon for the biosynthesis of alternative fuels, medicines and more.

Dakota is a scientist, biologist and co-founder of Prospective Research, Inc focused on aquaculture and microbiome therapeutics using bacteria from the environment to try and replace the use of antibiotics in medicated feed for managing disease.