The TWiM team pays a tribute to Chris Condayan, and investigates the synergy between virus and the innate immune system for clearing bacterial pneumonia by phage therapy.
The TWiM team considers a report on prokaryotic viral DNA in mammalian brain, and how diarrhea is beneficial, by clearing enteric pathogens.
The TWiMbionts explore the role of bacteria in genesis of moonmilk, and how ancient host proteins can be used to engineer resistance to virus infection.
The TWiM team explains the use of microbial genome mining to identify new drugs, and how a bacterial symbiont protects flies against parasitoid wasps.
Michele updates the TWiMers on Legionella in the Flint water supply, and Elio informs us about how horizontally acquired biosynthesis genes boost the physiology of Coxiella burnetii.
At Microbe 2017 in New Orleans, the TWiM team speaks with Arturo Casadevall about his thoughts on the pathogenic potential of a microbe, rigorous science, funding by lottery, and moonshot science.
The TWiM team ventures into preprint space with an analysis of type VI secretion across human gut microbiomes, and provide insight into urinary tract infection: how bladder exposure to a member of the vaginal microbiota triggers E. coli egress from latent reservoirs.
The TWiMmers get cozy with symbionts: bacteria that allow a giant shipworm to oxidize sulfur, and algae that live within salamander cells.
The TWiMsters discuss potential new sources of antimicrobial compounds from unusual places: the skin of bats and the intestines of moths.
In recognition of National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, Robin Patel speaks with the TWiM team about directing a clinical bacteriology laboratory, and how an observation made by a laboratory technologist lead to the finding that Ureaplasma species can cause a system metabolic disturbance, hyperammonemia.
About the Hosts of TWiM
Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D. (@profvrr) is Higgins Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University Medical Center. He has been studying viruses for over 40 years. He teaches virology to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as medical, dental, and nursing students. His lectures are available online at iTunes University, YouTube, and Coursera.
Michael Schmidt, Ph.D. (TWiM) is the Professor and Vice Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Office of Special Programs at the Medical College of South Carolina. Dr. Schmidt is leading a team of infectious disease specialists from three health sciences centers and engineers from industry.