You’ve probably heard of the microbiome, but there’s much more to it than just gut health. Tune in to hear from Bridget O’Connor, career microbiologist, for a discussion on the microbiome, how microbiologists study organisms they can’t see, and more!

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This week, the Interactome team is joined by Dr. Alex Champagne, Associate Professor of Biology at  University of Southern Indiana! The team talks all things bird physiology — the age old question of flight evolution, interesting anatomical structures, and Dr. Champagne’s current work (which just got published, by the way)!

After listening to the episode, read about how skin lipids in desert bats suggest wing and tail membranes are important to evaporation cooling! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1095643324000473

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Mastodon: @[email protected]

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You've probably heard of AI powered neural networks, but are you familiar with biological neural networks? Join Sam, Natalie, and returning guest Youngmin as they compare, contrast, and generally discuss both types of networks. Can a single neuron "think"? And how do neural networks "learn"? We cover these questions and more on this episode of the interactome.

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We all know that protein is something in our food, but what else do proteins do? For our final episode of our 3-part series on the Central Dogma, we discuss (one of) the final products of DNA and RNA: proteins! We cover everything from where proteins come from to some of their roles as molecular machines. Along the way, we touch on topics such as how eating protein helps you make muscles to "the protein fold that kills." Correction: X-ray crystallography shoots high-energy photons (x-rays), not electrons, at crystals to obtain their structure. Sam was probably too excited thinking about electron microscopy to catch his mistake.

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Welcome to our part 2 of the central dogma of biology series! In this episode, Maia, Joe and Natalie talk all things RNA. Tune in to learn about the molecular structure differences between RNA and DNA, mRNA vaccines, and to hear some polarizing biological theories!

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What’s spookier than identity theft, scams and fraud? In the digital age, cybersecurity is more important than ever. Yet, there are many misconceptions about the field and what it entails. October is cybersecurity month, and to celebrate Sam, Joe and Natalie spoke with SecOp analyst Virginia Gresham. The crew talked about about her role, the importance of protecting your information, and more. Give it a listen, guarantee you’ll learn something new! 

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Content Warning: this episode discusses dead bodies, violent crime, and international conflict

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In this episode, Joe, Maia, and Natalie talk about genetics. They start with the basics, and then delve into how we get our DNA and how it can change over many many years. You're bound to learn something new with this episode of the interactome!

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When we think of science, we often think of data being collected in test tubes and laboratories, but lots of data actually exists in the context of mountains, roads, neighborhoods and countries. Join Joe, Sarah and Natalie and special guest Rylee Wrenner as they discuss Geographic Information Science (GIS), which allows researchers to understand the kinds of data that are best visualized on a map. Along the way, they discuss how to make useful models, the centuries-old origins of GIS in epidemiology, and somehow manage to relate GIS to cheese. Join us to learn about GIS and witness our continuing inexplicable obsession with dairy products. And no, we are not sponsored by the cheese section at Trader Joe's. Seriously, Natalie, I shouldn't have to add this to an episode about GIS.

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You might have heard the phrase "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" back in high school biology class, but what does that mean? Join Joe, Sam, and Maia as they explore everyone's favorite part of the cell. We had some fun with this, so join us as we explain what exactly the mitochondria is, how it works, and what happens if it breaks. Along the way, we'll talk about electron hot potato, grand theft organelle, at least one deadly poison, and, yes, find out that Joe has more than one brain cell.

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