TWiM explains how bacterial symbionts regulate tick blood feeding activity, and the reasons why antibiotics exist.
On this episode of TWiM, how phages prevent other phages from invading their hosts without blocking their own reproduction, and plastic-degrading potential of microbes across the Earth.
TWiM discusses antigenic variation within dengue virus serotypes, and an mRNA vaccine that induces antibodies against tick proteins and prevents transmission of the Lyme disease agent.
TWiM reveals a study showing that positive interactions among bacteria are far more common than previously thought, and how acquisition of a single gene enabled Yersinia pestis to expand the range of mammalian hosts that sustain flea-borne plague.
Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of the observation that Gram’s stain does not cross the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, and suppression of gingival inflammation and bone loss through host modulation caused by episymbiotic Saccharibacteria.
Petra Levin joins TWiM to tell three stories from her laboratory: how starvation induces shrinkage of the bacterial cytoplasm; plasticity of E. coli cell wall and how it influences antibiotic resistance across different environments; and induction of antibiotic resistance by Triclosan.
On this episode of TWiM, using colicins to ferry DNA into cells through an iron transporter, and construction of highly efficient microbial fuel cells that produce more electrical current than previously observed.
TWiM explores the role of biofilms in infection by coronaviruses, and development of a Shigella vaccine using outer membrane vesicles derived from Salmonella.
On this episode, an electrochemical scaffold that delivers safe doses of hypochlorous acid to treat wound infections in humans, and a method for sampling and monitoring bacteria and viruses on surfaces using plain paper stickers.
TWiM reveals how temporal shifts in antibiotic resistance elements govern phage-pathogen conflicts, and the intracellular localization of toxin-antitoxin proteins in E. coli.
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.