Bayazit writes:
Dear TWIM team,
I am a human geneticist that become TWIM fan. I thinks I listened every episode and always waiting for new ones.
I wonder if you can invite someone who works with Streptococcus pyogenes to talk about its biology and evolution.
The reason I am asking is this fascinating hypothesis that connects a deadly pathogen with an autoimmune disease. As far as I know, Strep pyogenes group A strains historically caused scarlet fever. It was once known as a deadly pathogen. At the same time this bug is now known to provoke psoriasis and exacerbate this autoimmune condition. More interestingly it does so by persisting intracellularly in psoriasis patients’ tonsils. I wonder how this deadly pathogen evolved into being an intracellular commensal/pathobiont? It could be an example of coevolution with humans that made this bug less virulent? In any case, I think it is an interesting microbe.
—
Bayazit Yunusbayev
University Fellow
ITMO University
Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Stephanie writes:
Dear people,
When I find a podcast I like, I start at the beginning. Since that goes way back for the Microbe.tv collection, it has taken me some time to get up to 2020 just for TWiM. I’ve barely started with the others – I will have so much interesting material to listen to while in my garden or taking walks.
—
I really enjoy the conversational style of the TWiM podcasts. I very much appreciate the inclusion of personal biographies and outside interests of the scientists. It is so nice to hear about women in science.
It make me wish that I was young again and could perhaps go to a college like Grinnell that encourages students to do research.
Like Elio, I have an interest in fungus. I write articles from time to time for the Mycological Society of San Francisco newsletter.
Here are a few:
http://www.mssf.org/v_newsletters/article_237898639.htm
http://www.mssf.org/v_newsletters/article_253950831.htm
– stephanie