In this episode of Microbe Talk, Laura and Professor Stephen Gordon from University College Dublin discuss tuberculosis research in both people and animals.

Find out more about Professor Gordon's research in the below articles: 
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Humanity's deadly microbial foe (doi: 10.1099/mic.0.000601)
Mycobacterium bovis genomics reveals transmission of infection between cattle and deer in Ireland (doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000388)
Comparative 'omics analyses differentiate Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis and reveal distinct macrophage responses to infection with the human and bovine tubercle bacilli (doi:10.1099/mgen.0.000163)

Microbe Talk: bovine tuberculosis

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Matt talks to Ryan Hames, a PhD student from the University of Leicester, UK. Listen to Matt and Ryan discuss his research into the circadian rhythm and how it affects the body’s immune response to invasive infection.

Microbe Talk: How does the circadian rhythm affect infection?

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Charlie talks to Dr Jonathan Cox about his team's newly published research on a surprising use for Manuka honey. 

Music: 
Leatherbound by Blue Dot Sessions(www.sessions.blue)

Manuka honey could help treat a deadly drug-resistant lung infection

In this episode of Microbe Talk Charlie talks to Dr Fiona Walsh about her team's research into how widespread plasmids carrying antimicrobial resistance genes are around the world, and what we can do about it.

Music:
Leatherbound by Blue Dot Sessions(www.sessions.blue)

A global problem: investigating the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Charlotte talks to Dr Ian Brown about what makes this year’s bird flu outbreak bigger and more worrisome than before.
Maarten Schellekens – Sweet Dreams – Middle-East Remix (freemusicarchive.org)

The biggest ever bird flu outbreak: what you need to know

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Policy and Engagement Officer Katie talks to Professor Martha Clokie about bacteriophages, how they can be used to treat infection and potentially even combat antimicrobial resistance. 

You can read our full response to the government inquiry on the antimicrobial potential of bacteriophages at https://microbiologysociety.org/resource_library/consultation-responses/inquiry-on-anti-microbial-of-bacteriophage.html   

A full transcript of this episode is available on the Microbiology Society website. 

Music: Blue Dot Sessions 'Blue Latex'

The bacteriophage: is the enemy of our enemy a friend?

This month, inspired by a paper published in Microbial Genomics, Clare takes a deep dive into the method of wastewater monitoring. She speaks to Professor Steve Patterson and Dr Anne Leonard about how wastewater monitoring is a useful tool which helps us understand not only the spread of diseases like COVID-19, but also antimicrobial resistance.

You can read Professor Patterson's paper, published in Microbial Genomics here. https://microb.io/3or9CsS 

Music: pixabay Chill Abstract (Intention) Coma-Media

Chill Abstract (Intention)

A deep dive into wastewater monitoring

In this episode of Microbe Talk, David Walker-Sünderhauf chats with Clare about his paper "Removal of AMR plasmids using a mobile, broad host-range CRISPR-Cas9 delivery tool" published in Microbiology. 




If you'd like to read David's paper, you can find it here https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001334. You can also follow him on twitter @davvi36. 

Music: Time Technology by Comma-Media from Pixabay

CRISPR - Cas9 Takes On AMR Plasmids

In the latest edition of Microbiology Today we launched our brand-new project 'Knocking out AMR'. So for the next two episodes of Microbe Talk we're bringing you conversations with our members who are working on antimicrobial resistance. For this episode, Clare spoke to Professor Chloe James from the University of Salford about all things AMR. 
 
If you are interested in opportunities for organisations to collaborate with the Microbiology Society, please email knockingoutamr@microbiologysociety.org . To register your individual interest please visit https://microb.io/3tIpadW and to find out about the latest updates, follow us on Twitter @MicrobioSoc using the hashtag #KnockingOutAMR.

To read Chloe's work published in Microbiology, visit https://microb.io/3FIaSwQ 

To keep up to date with Chloe's public engagement work visit https://microb.io/3Qpr2Ah for general microbiology and AMR content and https://microb.io/3FFjjZV for phage content. 

Chloe's work is funded by Knowledge for Change and BBSRC.

Music: 'Origin' by Comma-Media via Pixabay

A full transcript of the podcast can be downloaded from our website https://microb.io/3SprCAG

Origin

Knocking Out AMR: a conversation with Professor Chloe James

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Policy and Engagement Officer Katie chats to Dr Tina Joshi and Dr Catrin Moore, the Microbiology Society members leading on the Society’s brand new antimicrobial resistance (AMR) project, Knocking Out AMR. In this episode, Katie, Tina and Catrin talk about what the new project is, how it came to be, and how people can get involved.

To find out more about Knocking Out AMR, and to register your interest, head to www.microbiologysociety.org/knockingoutamr        

A full transcript of this episode is available on the Microbiology Society website.

Music: ‘Relaxed Vlog (Night Street)’ by Ashot Danielyan from Pixabay

Knocking Out AMR: Dr Tina Joshi and Dr Catrin Moore on the Society’s new project

In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare is joined by Rick Mumford, Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor & Deputy Director of Science Evidence & Research at the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA). They chat about research and surveillance of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR), delivering on the 5-year National Action Plan and look to the future of foodborne AMR. 

If you’d like to read Rick’s paper, ‘Foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research and surveillance in the UK: priorities identified through the Food Standards Agency’s AMR programme review (2023)’ published in Journal of Medical Microbiology, the Society’s interdisciplinary journal for medical, veterinary and dental microbiology, you can do so here https://microb.io/3OaMMiP 

If you’d like to keep up to date with the FSA’s science news, publications and research partnership opportunities you can sign up to their newsletter here https://microb.io/427v99A 

If you’d like to get involved in tackling AMR you can find out more information on our Knocking out AMR project and register your interest on our website https://microb.io/3tIpadW 

Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: research and surveillance

Yesterday, we released our vision statement for Knocking Out Antimicrobial Resistance, the Society's new cross-disciplinary project. It outlined the key issues faced by the AMR community: the lack of understanding of the urgency of the crisis, a fragmented AMR landscape and a broken innovation pipeline.

So for this special Knocking Out AMR episode of Microbe Talk Clare spoke to Professor Paul Hoskisson to pick his brain on his latest venture: a one million pound project to use food by-products make antimicrobial production more cost effective and sustainable.

The Microbiology Society's Knocking Out AMR Vision statement can be found on our website here https://microb.io/4bHDoMO 

Paul's Socials:
Bluesky @paulhoskisson.bsky.social 
Twitter @PaulHoskisson
Instagram @paulhoskisson

Music by Yurii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Knocking Out AMR: fixing the broken innovation pipeline

For this episode of Microbe Talk Clare was joined by the wonderful Gwyn Dahlquist-Axe and Francesca Standeven, archaeological scientists who study AMR and ancient human oral microbiomes. They're on the podcast to discuss their review into diet, disease and antibiotic resistance from ancient human oral microbiomes published in Microbial Genomics. 

You can read their review 'Inferring diet, disease and antibiotic resistance from ancient human oral microbiomes' by following this link: https://microb.io/3yrdaQo

If you'd like to keep up with Francesca and Gwyn's research their Twitter (X) handles are @GDahlquistAxe and @fstandeven193

You can read a full transcript of the podcast on our website here https://microb.io/3xfueJ0

Roots of resistance: exploring AMR in ancient mouths

In aid of space week Clare is looking up into the sky with Dr Katherine Baxter about the exciting field of space microbiology. They chat about how research in space could help with problems back on earth, how microbes behave in space and how they might be key to survival in future space travel. 

The details of the ways to get involved are below. If you're in need of even more space content, keep your eye out for the next edition of Microbiology Today. 

The NASA Open Science Data Repository: https://awg.osdr.space/ 
The SOLSTICE citizen science project: https://www.nasa.gov/osdr-working-groups-citizen-science/.  

Music by drmseq from Pixabay

Looking up at space microbiology

For this episode of Microbe Talk Clare is joined by Dr Sanjay Patel, a paediatric infectious disease and immunology consultant at Southampton Children's Hospital and the National Clinical Advisor for Paediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship at NHS England. Clare and Sanjay discuss paediatric AMR, why it's often overlooked and how Sanjay and his colleagues from clinical, research and policy backgrounds are taking action. 

If you'd like to learn more about research into antimicrobial resistance in neonates, take a look at this paper in Journal of Medical Microbiology: https://microb.io/4i4guDp

You can find details of how to get involved with Knocking Out AMR here:https://microb.io/40g484K

The resources and initiatives Sanjay mentioned are below: 
National empirical antimicrobial guidelines: https://uk-pas.co.uk/Antimicrobial-Paediatric-Summary-UKPAS.pdf
The common infection clinical pathways, the IV to oral switch decision aid: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66795c88a7a18c1aa1a00f20/paeds-iv-to-oral-switch-decision-aid-1.pdf 
The common infection paediatric pathways: https://bsac.org.uk/paediatricpathways/

Music: Inspiring Science Technology - Comma Media from Pixabay

To download the transcript of this podcast please visit our website. 

World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week: paediatric AMR

In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare spoke to Adam Aspinall who's Senior Director in the Access and Product Management team at Medicines for Malaria Venture. They discuss Malaria, antimalarial drug resistance and the work that Medicines for Malaria Venture is doing to support new drug discovery.

If you'd like to find out more about the Microbiology Society's Knocking Out AMR project, you can do so here https://microb.io/3XDv9fq 

If you'd like to find out more about the work that Medicines for Malaria do, take a look at their resources here: 

MMV website: http://mmv.org

Severe Malaria Observatory : severemalaria.org

You can also download a full transcript of the podcast by visiting the Microbiology Society's website. 

Music: Blue Dot Sessions - Blue Latex

Antimalarial drug resistance: current challenges and future solutions

For the first episode of Microbe Talk in 2025, we’re bringing you something fascinating and a bit different— non-communicable diseases. In this special episode, Clare chats with Professor John Tregoning, a  Professor in Vaccine Immunology, about his new book, 'Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death'. Clare and John chat about why he's writing about non-communicable diseases, the processes behind his book and any public engagement advice he'd give to our community. 

Find out where you can buy a copy of Johns book here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/live-forever/ 

Johns other work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/a_curious_scientist 

You can also download a transcript of the podcast from our website:  https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/microbe-talk-exploring-the-science-of-wellness-ageing-and-death-with-john-tregoning.html

Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Exploring the science of wellness, ageing and death with John Tregoning

In this episode, Adam talks to Dr Georgios Efthimiou from the University of Hull.  Georgios has created a nationwide ‘spooky’ short story competition called Coccus Pocus. This project links outreach and Halloween with microbiology.  This creative competition has had a clear impact on 12 – 18-year-olds who find the competition a good way to discover an interest in microbiology and have had a lot of fun writing the stories.  Join Adam as he learns more about this Microbiology Society-funded project (and you may hear from a few society staff members reading some of this year's winners along the way).

Coccus Pocus: a microbiology inspired scary story competition

In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare speaks to Judy Li, author on the latest Microbial Primer: Microbiome and thermal tolerance – a new frontier in climate resilience? Clare and Judy chat about the paper, the relatively new field of study and the possible mechanisms of microbes buffering organisms against temperature changes. 
 
If you'd like to Judy's paper, published in Microbiology you can do so here https://microb.io/41914pK 
 
Music: Documentary_Tidal by Comma-Media via Pixabay

Microbiome and thermal tolerance: a new frontier in climate resilience?

We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.

We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished. 

So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme. 

For the first of our mini-series, Clare spoke to Phoebe Crossley who will be presenting her research 'Multi-omic analysis of the vaginal microenvironment reveals mechanisms of vulvovaginal and sexual health symptoms in women with benign gynaecological conditions' at the Urogenital Microbes in Health and Disease session tomorrow afternoon. 

Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Phoebe Crossley

We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.

We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.

So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.

For the second episode of our miniseries for Annual Conference Clare spoke to Elizabeth O’Gorman about her research titled ‘Adaptation of Campylobacter to Sodium Chloride Alters Phenotypes Associated with Human Disease’ which she will be presenting at the infection forum tomorrow afternoon. 

Elizabeth and Clare chat about food safety and how consumer trends might be altering the of bacteria on our meat.

Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Elizabeth O'Gorman

We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.

We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.

So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.

For the penultimate episode of our miniseries for annual conference Clare spoke to Guilherme Borba Neuman about his research titled ‘Characterizing Retroviral Integrations and Their Impact on Koala Populations: Implications for Health and Conservation’ which he presented earlier today at our Annual Conference in Liverpool. 

Listen to find out how Guilherme is able to see the results of his research come to fruition in captive Koala populations. 

Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Guilherme Neumann

We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.

We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.

So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.

We’re closing up with a chat with Andrew Spicer who is looking at the algae Chlorella in a new light. His invited talk ‘Reimagining Chlorella as a food and beverage ingredient suited for everyday foods’ was on Tuesday afternoon at the Annual Conference in the Microbes to meals session.

Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Andrew Spicer

In this episode, Adam discovers how two microbiologists from opposite sides of the world formed a collaboration and mentorship that has greatly benefited them both.

When in-person classes were suspended during the 2020 lockdown, Akpan Friday, a student from Nigeria, reached out on social media seeking support to continue his and his classmates’ learning. Dr Beth Mills from the University of Edinburgh responded to the call and began delivering free online lectures to the students.

Although they have yet to meet in person, their relationship has developed into a mentor–mentee partnership, and both were delighted to share their story.

Music: Instant Crush – Corbyn Kites 


Dr Beth Mills and Akpan Friday on international collaboration and mentorship

We’ve been out and about this month, interviewing researchers in Glasgow, Manchester and Galway for the podcast. Up first, Ben travelled to Scotland to chat with Dr Adam Kucharski from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Adam is an expert in disease modelling, and he told us how his work is helping in the fight against the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

Books and films are full of end-of-the-world microbiological fiction, but can they be used to help engage the public with the fundamentals of disease research? Anand went to Manchester to speak with Professor Jo Verran, founder of the Bad Bugs Book Club.

A few weeks ago, Ben attended the Society’s Irish Division Meeting in Galway. There were lots of great talks, and he got a chance to grab a few minutes with Professors Kim Lewis and Martin Cormican. Kim is Director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University, Boston, USA, while Martin is Professor of Bacteriology and a Consultant Microbiologist at NUI Galway. Both are interested in antibiotic resistance, but are coming at it from different angles…

Image credit: Phalinn Ooi under CC BY 2.0

Maths, books and antibiotics

In January 2024, Aline Metris and Lindsay Hall hosted an academic-industry workshop at the Microbiology Society offices to discuss the potential long-term implications of microbiome perturbations. 

Since then, they’ve published a comprehensive summary of the findings from the workshop in Microbial Genomics. We invited them back to the Microbiology Society offices to chat with Clare about their experiences hosting the workshop and share their insights from the paper. 

If you’d like to read the review in Microbial Genomics you can do so by following this link https://microb.io/3TkLCn3 

Stay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about Lindsay and Aline’s further work and our other projects on the microbiome. 

A full, auto generated, transcript of the podcast is available on our website here https://microb.io/4l4aZ92

From workshop to publication: discussing microbiome safety with Lindsay Hall and Aline Metris

Private Ernest Cable was a WW1 soldier who died on 13 March 1915 and his body now lies in a communal cemetery in Wimereux, France.

Records suggest that Cable was the first British soldier in WW1 to die from dysentery - an intestinal diarrhoeal infection, caused by Shigella flexneri bacteria. Today, a sample of the very Shigella which infected and killed Cable can be found at the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC), where it is helping researchers to understand the evolution of drug resistance.

The NCTC is part of Public Health England's Culture Collections, which includes thousands of strains of bacteria, viruses and fungi. We spoke to Julie Russell, Head of Culture Collections, about some of the more unusual historical strains housed there, and the role that they continue to play in the fight against disease.

Image: Wimereux Communal Cemetery
Image credit: Wernervc on Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Culture Collections: Microbes from WW1 and Fleming's nose

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Clare talks to An Bui from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta about their paper published in Microbiology, the first systematic review of the potential effects of psychotropics (the drugs used to treat bipolar disorder) on the gut microbiome of treated and untreated bipolar individuals.

A full transcript of the recording is available on our website: https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/microbe-talk-exploring-the-gut-brain-link-in-bipolar-treatments.html

Chemical Conversations: Exploring the gut:brain link in bipolar treatments

This month on the podcast, we spoke with Dr Mayri Alessandra Diaz De Rienzo, Ale for short, who is lecturer in Biotechnology at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. Ale is currently in Quebec, Canada, visiting the lab of Professor Eric Déziel on a Microbiology Society Research Visit Grant. Ale has travelled to Canada to research how biosurfactants can work with antibiotics to make infections easier to treat, and how they might be able to improve the lifespan of antibiotics.

Find out more about Microbiology Society grants: https://microbiologysociety.org/education-outreach/grants-prizes.html 
Present your PhD research at the Fleming showcase: https://microbiologysociety.org/event/annual-conference/annual-conference-2020.html#tab-2

Improving the lifespan of antibiotics in Canada

This is a special Microbiology Today edition of Microbe Talk. The latest issue of the Society’s magazine, Microbiology Today, focuses on natural products and drug discovery. In this podcast we talk with two researchers about their work to find new antimicrobial compounds that could be used to form new treatments: Lorena T. Fernández-Martínez from Edge Hill University about her research on actinomycetes and Aled Roberts from Swansea University Medical School about his work on manuka honey.

Find out more about natural products and drug discovery in the November issue of Microbiology Today: https://microbiologysociety.org/microbiologytoday

Microbiology Today: Natural Products And Drug Discovery

Protists are an extremely important part of many ecosystems, but people don't often consider their significance and the biodiversity they represent. In this episode of the podcast, Laura speaks with Professor Genoveva Esteban who is based at Bournemouth University, UK. Genoveva's research focuses on the biodiversity of aquatic systems in the UK, particularly at a microbial level.

Image: iStock/prill

The ecological role of protists

Laura speaks with Alice Fraser from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Alice is part of a research team looking for new antibiotics in unexpected places. Listen to the episode to find out about her research searching for antibiotic proteins in snake venoms and find out what Alice has found so far.
Music: Jason Shaw CC.BY 3.0

Could snake venom contain antibiotics?

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