TWiP 117: Parasitic puzzles
- The parasite prophets solve the case of the Thai Man with Abdominal Distention, and discuss the finding that metastatic leishmaniasis dependent on a virus can be prevented by blocking IL-17A. post
BacterioFiles 269: Magnetic Microbes Maim MRSA
- This episode: Killing pathogens by attaching magnetotactic bacteria to them and then raising the heat with magnetic fields! post
TWiV 408: Boston Quammens
- Four years after filming 'Threading the NEIDL', Vincent and Alan return to the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory BSL4 facility at Boston University where they speak with science writer David Quammen. post
TWiM 135: Unruly individuals and their unruly friends
- How critical illness alters the microbiome, and the consequences of a sewage spill into an aquatic environment, from the TWiM team. post
TWiV 407: Tar Heels go viral, part two
- In the second of two shows recorded at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Vincent meets up with faculty members to talk about how they got into science, their research on RNA viruses, and what they would be doing if they were not scientists. post
BacterioFiles 268: Sophisticated Cyanobacterium Sight
- Spherical cyanobacterium Synechocystisacts like a tiny eyeball in sensing light, allowing cells to move closer to light sources! post
TWiV 407: Tar Heels go viral, part one
- In the first of two shows recorded at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Vincent meets up with faculty members to talk about how they got started in science, their research on DNA viruses, and what they would be doing if they were not scientists. post
BacterioFiles 267: Crust Color Cooks Communities
- Cyanobacteria in biocrusts produce pigments that heat their surroundings up to 10 degrees hotter! post
TWiV 406: Pow, right in the enteroids!
- The TWiV team discusses eye infections caused by Zika virus, failure of Culex mosquitoes to transmit the virus, and replication of norovirus in stem cell derived enteroids. post
TWiP 116: One drug to rule them all
- The TWiPtoids solve the case of the Thai Fisherman with Chronic Diarrhea, and reveal a potential new drug for treatment of leishmaniasis, Chagas diseases, and sleeping sickness. post
TWiM 134: Lipids that live forever
- Design of a synchronously lysing bacterium for delivery of anti-tumor molecules in mice, and hopanoids, the lipids that live forever, brought to you by the four Microbies of TWiM. post
BacterioFiles 266: Solar Cyborg Cells Capture Carbon
- Adding exotic elements to convert spore-forming bacteria into light-capturing cyborgs that convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals! post
Urban Agriculture 25: Standing Tall
- Dickson defines the term 'vertical farm': a high-tech greenhouse that is stacked on top of itself, transforming it into a multi-story growing space. post
TWiP 115: The Cuscuta Factor
- The TWiPlets solve the sad case of the Boy Who Went Swimming, and explain why the tomato is resistant to the plant parasite Cuscuta. post
TWiM 133: Right under our noses
- Insight into the biology of rhinovirus C from cryo-electron microscopy, and a novel antibiotic from a commensal bacterium that grows in the human nose, from the doctors of TWiM. post
Polio in Nigeria
- Polio returns to Nigeria after two years - but it turns out it had never gone away. post
TWiEVO 10: Spicing up peppered moths with a selfish gene
- Nels and Vincent review experiments showing that the replacement of a pale moth with a black one during the industrial revolution was caused by a transposable element. post
TWiP 114: Plant potions perturb Plasmodium
- The TWiP troika solve the case of the Female from the Bronx, and reveal how feeding on different plants affects mosquito capacity to transmit malaria. post
Zika Virus in the USA
- On this episode of Virus Watch we cover three Zika virus stories: the first human trial of a Zika virus vaccine, the first local transmission of infection in the United States, and whether the virus is a threat to participants in the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. post
TWiM 132: Bacteria learn long division
- Vincent, Elio, and Michele present cell division by longitudinal scission in an insect symbiont, and thermally activated charge transport in microbial nanowires. post
Zika Virus Vaccine
- The first experimental Zika virus vaccine has been published, and in this episode of Virus Watch, I explain how it works - it's a DNA vaccine - compared with all the other vaccines out there. post
TWiEVO 9: How to crash your gene drive
- Nels and Vincent speak with Jim Bull about the results of genetic models which suggest that the evolution of inbreeding in response to lethal gene drive might make population control difficult to achieve. post
Urban Agriculture 24: Cuello's Law
- Dickson and Vincent speak with Professor Joel Cuello about his work on engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural innovations, including bioregenerative space life support, crop hydroponics, plant tissue culture, micropropagation, and industrial mass production of algae and plant cell and microbial cultures. post
Audiommunity 23 - If At First You Don't Succeed
- Evidence that viruses drive the evolution of their hosts - who would have guessed? Matt struggles to remember how evolution works, and Kate and Kevin yell past each other about open peer review. post
Are viruses alive?
- In this Virus Watch video, I answer the often-asked question that always leads to an argument: Are Viruses Alive? post
TWiEVO 8: Everyone's a little bit Neanderthal
- Nels visits Vincent in the MicrobeTV studio in New York and talks about how key genes of the Homo sapiens innate immune response were acquired from Neanderthals. post
Urban Agriculture 23: Controlled enviroment agriculture
- Dickson and Vincent speak with Professor Gene Giacomelli about his work on controlled environment plant production systems research, design, development and applications. post
Audiommunity 22 - So, a B-cell walks into a germinal center...
- In this episode, Matt and Kevin give in to aesthetics. This paper's just really pretty. Also, it overturns some pretty entrenched immunology dogma and does it using fancy new technology. B-cells, germinal centers and brainbow confetti. post
Audiommunity 21 - Allergies Suck Less Than Cancer
- This week, a guy gets a kiwi allergy from a bone marrow transplant from his sister, Matt envisions a magic mouse, and Kate peaces out after 20 min. Meanwhile, Kevin continues to be the only one drinking... that schtick may not last much longer. post
TWiEVO 7: Pigeon fashion week, feathery boots edition
- Mike joins Nels and Vincent to talk about his work on what controls whether pigeons have scaly or feathered feet, and reveals that the hindlimbs of domestic birds with feathery feet are more like wings at the molecular level. post
Audiommunity 20 - Bacteriophiles with Jesse Noar
- Something a bit different this episiode. Last month, we joined Jesse Noar, host of the excellent Bacteriophiles podcast to record an episode about oncolytic viruses (viruses that blow up cancer cells). We hope you enjoy it, then head on over to microbeworld and subscribe to Jesse's podcast. post
Urban Agriculture 22: Clare-ity of thought
- Dickson and Vincent speak with architect Clare Miflin about biomimicry - innovation inspired by nature - and environmentally sound building practices. post