x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

This Week in Microbiology

Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Microbiology is a podcast about unseen life on Earth hosted by Vincent Racaniello and friends. Following in the path of his successful shows "This Week in Virology" (TWiV) and "This Week in Parasitism" (TWiP), Racaniello and guests produce an informal yet informative conversation about microbes which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.

science life sciences

All Episodes

54:17

329: Bacteria Hunt With Grappling Hooks

This Week in Microbiology ·

2025/03/17

TWiM explains Pasteur’s relentless hunt for microbes in the air, and how bacteria hunt for prey by ixotrophy - using grappling hooks! Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Pasteur’s hunt for microbes in the air (NYTimes) Bacterial predation by ixotrophy (Science) Enter the pirates (STC) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send

en

46:59

328: Capturing Shigella With Filopodia

This Week in Microbiology ·

2025/02/28

TWiM describes Shigella infection is facilitated by interaction of human enteric α-defensin 5 with a colonic epithelial receptor, and an amino acid change in RNA polymerase that leads to resistance to β-lactams by preventing dysregulation of amino acid and nucleotide metabolism Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and

en

52:28

327: Freezing and Anti-Freezing With Bacteria

This Week in Microbiology ·

2025/02/06

TWiM explains the remarkable abilities of bacterial ice nucleating proteins to promote freezing of water, and cryoprotective proteins produced by worm microbiomes that prevent freezing. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Worm microbiomes produce crytoprotective proteins (Sci Adv) Biological antifreeze in Antarctic fishes

en

53:08

326: I Have One Word For You: PETase!

This Week in Microbiology ·

2025/01/24

TWiM explores the discovery of microbial enzymes, PETases, that can degrade ubiquitous plastics, and how exogenous peptidoglycan is a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson. Guest Mark O. Martin. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Discovery of PET

en

41:54

325: Microbes Making Methane

This Week in Microbiology ·

2025/01/10

TWiM reveals that record high atmospheric methane growth has been driven by microbes, and the cecum as an adaptive niche for Salmonella typhi. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Why a potent greenhouse gas is rising (WaPo) Microbial emissions drove record high

en

01:02:23

324: Back To School for TWiM

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/12/27

From ASMCUE 2024, the conference on undergraduate education, TWiM speaks with Becky, Melanie, and Katriana about their careers and how they use TWiM in undergraduate microbiology education. Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin Guests: Becky Seipel-Thiemann, Melanie Melendrez-Vallard, and Katriana Popichak Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with

en

59:37

323: Better Concrete With Microbes

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/12/13

TWiM describes how to make concrete more ‘green’ by using microbes, and bacterial bioluminescence as an important regulator of multitrophic interactions in the soil. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and and Mark O. Martin. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Construction nanobiotechnology for concrete

en

58:12

322: Photohydrolysis Decontamination Reduces...

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/11/22

TWiM explains how ticagrelor alters the membrane of S. aureus and enhances the activity of vancomycin and daptomycin without eliciting cross-resistance, and the development of a novel continuous disinfectant technology that decreases healthcare-associated infections in ICUs by 70%. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Ticagrelor and S. aureus (mBio) Novel disinfectant technology (Am J Inf Control) UVC-LED to inactivate

en

01:00:03

321: The Microbes in Your Food

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/11/08

TWiM focuses on recent foodborne outbreaks of bacterial infections, and how nanopore sequencing technology can be used to identify pathogenic microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes in food products. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Foodborne outbreaks (CDC) Race to nourish a warming world (Gates Foundation) Nanopore sequencing of foods (Food Microbiol) How is Oxford Nanopore used? (YouTube) Introduction

en

01:15:05

320: Rockstars of USAMRIID

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/10/25

TWiM travels to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to learn how research conducted at USAMRIID leads to vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs that protect both warfighters and civilians. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guests: Norman Kreiselmeir, Christopher K Coat, Keersten Ricks, and Eric Nguyen Links for this episode: U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Threading the NEIDL (TWiV 200) Unintentional

en

52:03

319: The Dark Side of the Rumen

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/10/11

TWiM explains a project to engineer the cow microbiome to reduce emissions of methane, and the finding of antibiotic resistance genes in the genomes of giant viruses. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo) Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project) Giant viruses carry

en

01:07:23

318: How To Pick a Winner

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/09/27

TWiM explains how bacterial community structure can be used to predict athletic performance in racehorses, and the idea that a tiny fraction of all species forms most of Nature. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Mark O. Martin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Microbiome picks a winner (Sci Rep) Picking a Winner by Reading the Form Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes by Stephen Jay Gould How much does it cost to breed a horse? Date of birth and purchase price

en

54:54

317: Bat White-nose Syndrome

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/09/14

TWiM explains unique modifications in the energy conservation pathways linked to methanogenesis in an Archaeon, and mechanisms of white nose fungal invasion of cells from the Little Brown Bat. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Methyl-reducing methanogenesis (Nature) Pathogenic strategies of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Science) Adaptive fungal invasion of bat cells (Science) Little brown bat (Critter

en

56:23

316: Food Addiction and the Gut Microbiome

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/08/23

TWiM describes experiments to explore gut microbiota signatures of vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans, and how a phage tail-like protein suppresses competitors in populations of bacteria of plants. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Gut microbiota and food addiction (Probiotics) Blautia may have probiotic properties (Gut Microbes) Blautia wexlerae ameliorates obesity and type 2 diabetes (Nat

en

58:00

315: How Pseudomonas Became A Global Pathogen

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/08/09

TWiM explores evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas infections of plants, and the impact of COVID-19 on ESBL-producing E. coli on urinary tract and blood infections. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas (Science) Type III secretion system, infection by injection (Nat Comm) Demographic inference with skyline plots (Peer J) Skyline plots (Taming the Beast) Panaroo, a bacterial genome analysis

en

52:57

314: Microbes Sculpt Our Planet and Manage Inflammation

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/07/27

TWiM explores the deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet (NY Times) Living bioelectronics resolve inflammation (Science) Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation (Science) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology

en

44:18

313: Could Fungal Pathogens Outsmart US?

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/07/11

Fungal kingdom frontiersman Dr. Arturo Casadevall, asks, What if Fungi Win? Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin discuss with Arturo, his new book and the beneficial roles of fungi along with their mischievous and deadly impacts and how committed experts are researching ways to save us and our food supplies. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Mark O. Martin Guest: Dr. Arturo Casadevall Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/nKJe5xNUocU Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Recorded at ASM Microbe 2024

en

53:14

312: Cry Havoc!, and Let Slip the Phages of Healing

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/06/28

TWiM explains a new mechanism for preventing lysogeny through temperate phage-antibiotic synergy, and Salmonella expansion in the murine gut dependency on aspartate derived from reactive oxygen species-mediated microbiota lysis. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Temperate phage-antibiotic synergy (mBio) Salmonella expansion dependent on aspartate (Cell Host Micr) Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (Wiki) A Genetic Switch by Mark

en

43:45

311: Bacteria, beware of siderophore-antibiotic hybrids

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/06/13

TWiM explores how climate change may be increasing our risks to infectious disease and then how the Odyssey literally comes alive in our microbial world but fear not, unlike the Trojans, the bacteria are fighting back and have developed resistance to this novel class of newly developed antimicrobials. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Environmental changes fueling diseases (NY Times) Global change drivers and risk of infectious diseases (Nature) First reported

en

58:38

310: Starvation vs Dehydration: Who Loses, Who Wins?

This Week in Microbiology ·

2024/05/12

TWiM explores the plasticity of the adult human small intestinal stoma microbiota, and survival and rapid resuscitation that permit limited productivity in desert microbial communities. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Plasticity of small intestinal stoma microbiome (Cell Host Micr) Desert microbial communities (Nat Comm) How

en

350 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter