Microbiology

micro

World of Microbes

Researchers are reviving ideas from the pre-antibiotic age to fight drug-resistant bacteria.

Old Ideas May Help Us Fight New Superbugs

On 6 July, the spacecraft Soyuz MS-01 is scheduled to blast-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, headed for the International Space Station (ISS). On board, will be Dr Kate Rubins, who, along with Anatoli Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi, will be part of the 48th expedition to the ISS, due to return in November this year.

Before training with NASA, Kate worked as a microbiologist, most recently at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, where she worked on emerging viruses such as the Ebola and Lassa viruses.

For this month's podcast, we caught up with Kate as she prepared for her mission, and chatted about the experiments she'll be undertaking in space, what it's like to train to be an astronaut, and whether a pipette works in microgravity...

Image credit: NASA, public domain

Music:
Paddington Bear – Bountiful
Alex Fitch – Ronny




Does a pipette work in space? with NASA Astronaut Dr Kate Rubins

Fungal diseases cause an estimated 1.5 million deaths each year – more than malaria.  Despite this, fungi are often overlooked compared to other pathogens like bacteria and viruses.

In this extra edition of the podcast, we sent Anand Jagatia along to the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition to find out more about the dangers of killer fungi, and the world's biggest Petri dish...

To find out more, visit www.killerfungus.org

Microbe Talk Extra: Killer Fungus

Every year, hundreds of millions of patients across the world are affected by Healthcare-associated Infections, according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO). These infections can result from a surgery, or from the use of a medical device like a catheter, for example, and cause significant mortality and economic losses.

One of the things that hospital staff can do to prevent these infections is effective handwashing. In this podcast we spoke to Professor Didier Pittet, who has been leading a WHO campaign to promote the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser in hospitals and clinics across the globe.

Image credit: Bananastock/Thinkstock

Microbe Talk Extra: Handwashing and Healthcare-associated Infections

"Every one of us is a zoo in our own right – a colony enclosed within a single body. A multi-species collective. An entire world."

In this episode, we chat to science writer Ed Yong about his upcoming book and The New York Times Bestseller, 'I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life'.

It's a book about the trillions of microbes that live on us and within us; microbes that build our bodies and organs, protect us from disease, shape our behaviour and drive the processes for life on earth.

Music: NeVe by Manuele Atzeni

I Contain Multitudes: An interview with Ed Yong

The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) building in Boston is a high-tech facility for the study of emerging, and re-emerging, microbial diseases of humans and animals. The building, part of Boston University, is equipped up to Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4), allowing the researchers there to safely study dangerous viruses like Ebola or Nipah.

In this episode, we got special access to the facility to have a look round, guided by Professor Paul Duprex, a Microbiology Society member and an Editor of our Journal of General Virology.

On the tour we got to meet the NEIDL’s Director, Professor Ron Corley, who told us about the building’s architecture and function, and talked with Dr Nahid Bhadelia who runs the facility’s back-up medical programme.

Music: Ryan Cross – Out
Image credit: Tim Llewellyn for Boston University Photography

Inside one of America's highest containment laboratories

What gives beer its taste? Why do some ales taste of berries, bananas or chocolate?

A big part of the answer is the type of yeast used to ferment it. There are hundreds of different strains that brewers can use to make beer, and many of them can be found at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures in Norwich.

We went for a pint with scientists from the NCYC to find out how different yeasts affect the taste of ales, and learn about their research to find strains that can produce new and better beers.

Brewing Better Beer

In 1901, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led a team of men on the Discovery Expedition to explore the mysteries of Antarctica.

The expedition is famous for it’s scientific legacy, including the discovery of snow-free valleys, emperor penguin colonies and the location of the South Magnetic Pole.

But the team also brought back some mysterious life forms living at the bottom of a lake. It took nearly  60 years for scientists to work out what they really were: cyanobacteria.

Dr Anne Jungblut is a microbiologist studying cyanobacteria today at the Natural History Museum.  In this episode, we visit the museum to learn more about these microbes, and see the very samples that Scott’s team brought back over 100 years ago….

Music: Alex Fitch
Image: Scott's Expedition Leaving for Antarctica - 1901, Archives New Zealand

Antarctic microbes from Scott's Discovery Expedition

Have you ever wondered about the kinds of microbes that are present in your kitchen? In the fruit bowl or the fridge, on your chopping boards or cleaning cloths?

Good Germs Bad Germs is a citizen science project from the University of Oxford, allowing people to experiment on the microbial life in their kitchens and to visualise the results.

This month, we went to Oxford to visit one of the households taking part in the project, and spoke to researchers Dr Jamie Larimer and Dr Beth Greenhough about they've found.

More information at www.goodgerms.org 
Image courtesy of the researchers

Good germs, bad germs

This month, we’re bringing you a real highlight from our Annual Conference in Edinburgh: a live discussion about the state of microbiome research.
 
A panel of experts gave their views on whether microbiome research is an opportunity, or whether it’s been over-hyped. 
 
It was a really lively event with a great audience, and it was chaired by our very own Dr Benjamin Thompson.
 
Panelists:
Prof Julian Marchesi, Imperial College London
Prof Jim Prosser, University of Aberdeen
Dr Lindsay Hall, University of East Anglia
Dr Thorunn Helgason, University of York

Microbiome Research – Opportunity or Over-hype?

Malawi, in Sub-Saharan Africa, has the highest incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in the world. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by  human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Earlier this year, the Microbiology Society funded one of our members, Dr Ramya Bhatia, to travel to Malawi as part of a research collaboration between Nkhoma Hospital and the University of Edinburgh.

In this podcast, Ramya talks to us about her time in Malawi, and Nkhoma's highly successful cervical cancer screening programme.

Image credit: Derek Brumby/Thinkstock

HPV In Malawi

This month, we've caught up with microbiologist Ruth MacLaren, owner and founder of Sciencedipity. 

This May, Ruth was at the Eden Project running a number of activities as part of their launch week for their new exhibit Invisible Worlds. 

To find out more about the Invisible Worlds exhibit: https://microbepost.org/2018/06/20/invisible-worlds-at-the-eden-project/

To find out more about The Microbiology Society's engagement and outreach grants, see: https://microbiologysociety.org/education-outreach/get-involved.html

Engaging With The Public

This month, we have spoken with Dr Nicholas Johnson about the ongoing outbreak of West Nile Virus in Europe. Dr Johnson researches arboviruses, which are spread by mosquitoes at the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

To find out more about the research done at APHA: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-plant-health-agency/about/research
For outbreak reports from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/home
To find out more about Flaviviruses: http://jgv.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000672

Microbe Talk - West Nile Fever

The Microbiology Society is a membership organisation for scientists who work in all areas of microbiology.