Microbiology

World of Microbes

microbiology

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 threat of antibiotic resistance is large and looming. Drugs which once worked miracles are now failing to work at all as bacteria become resistant to them.

This could mean a future where a simple operation, a minor infection, or even a scratch could kill.

In this month's podcast, we bring you a live recording from a panel event at New Scientist Live. The discussion is fantastic primer on the issue of antibacterial resistance, why it’s so important that we act now, and what we can all do to stop it.  

Panellists:
Laura Bowater – senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School
Caroline Barker – clinician at University of East Anglia
Anthony McDonnell – head of economic research for the Prime Minister’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance
Tamar Ghosh – lead on the Longitude Prize to solve antibiotic resistance

The event was organised by the Microbiology Society and the Biochemical Society.

When a scratch can kill

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

Some highlights from this year's Microbiology Society Annual Conference, held in Belfast.

Annual Conference 2019

Sometimes the big picture can be too big. Microbes are everywhere, and sometimes looking at the small things can answer questions you weren’t expecting to ask.

Arjan Kortholt is Associate Professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Arjan’s original work was studying chemotaxis; the movement of cells up or down substance concentration gradients, for example when white blood cells are chasing pathogens. However, whilst studying the proteins involved in chemotaxis, he found they are related to Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s has traditionally been studied by medical doctors, but now Arjan is studying the disease from a new, microbiological angle; using techniques and tools from microbiology to help find a cure.

Microbe Talk: Thinking Small

This month on Microbe Talk is the second episode of Domino Effect, the podcast series where a Microbiology Society member is interviewed by another microbiologist who they have never met before. In this episode, Dr Lena Ciric, senior lecturer at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at UCL is interviewed by Sarah Jones, PhD student studying Geomicrobiology at Birkbeck and UCL.

Follow Lena on Twitter: @drlenaciric
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @Sarah_Jokes

Domino Effect: Dr Lena Ciric and Sarah Jones

Over the last decade or so, the area of microbiome research has exploded, and scientists are just starting to realise just how important the gut microbiome is for our health. However, despite the increased interest in gut microbiome research, the vast majority of studies concern bacteria, and microorganisms like yeasts are conspicuous by their absence in the literature.

Yeasts - The forgotten gut microbe

The first episode of MicroNews, where we discuss the times microbiology, and microbiologists, have been on tv, in the papers and trending online.

This month, Laura and Matt talk about the HPV vaccine, fungal diseases and antimicrobial resistance. We also hear from Professor Sally Bloomfield who talks about the link between allergies and hygiene. 

Links to the news stories discussed in the episode can be found at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48881008
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7219621/A-new-swathe-vital-antifungal-drugs-stopped-working.html
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/fungus-behind-deadly-bat-disease-found-in-northern-california-66111
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-06/ncsu-srt061319.php
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/antibiotic-resistance-superbug-bacteria-pharma-infection-a8996941.html
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/25/too-much-cleanliness-not-bad-for-health-report-on-hygiene-says

For information on the International Meeting on Arboviruses and their Vectors (IMAV19), go to microbiologysociety.org/IMAV19

MicroNews July

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