Humans might be the worlds greatest evolutionary force. From pollution to deforestation, human induced changes have a huge impact on the environment around us. But how are animals adapting to the changes in their environment? This week on RadioBio, we talk with Dr. Rachel Bay from the University of California, Davis about her work investigating evolutionary genomics in an ever-changing world.

Dr. Rachel Bay

Have you ever wondered why pregnant women shouldn't change the litter box? How about why your meat should always be well cooked? Well, one of those reasons is Toxoplasma gondii. Over 2 billion people are infected with this brain parasite. However, our understanding of the effects of Toxoplasma on humans, especially on their brain are small. Almost as small as the parasite itself. This week on RadioBio, we discuss who gets this parasite, what we can do to prevent or treat it and an introduction into the research taking place to discover the role of this parasite in the body with Dr. Rema McLeod from the University of Chicago. This is RadioBio.

Dr. Rima McLeod

Have you ever wondered what's the difference between a bug and an insect? Are spiders even an insect? Wait are lobsters and crabs related to bugs? Why do we even care about these insects and parasites? Well, we all know that bees are important for our food because they pollinate many of our plants that produce food for us, but insects have lead to many other discoveries. Did you know that many human genes that have been shaped by Darwinian evolution are genes that are involved with dealing with viruses and large parasites? Crazy right? Well today, we dive into Dr. Whiteman's work that follows Darwin and Wallace discoveries which is focused on evolution of new traits that are shaped though interactions between organisms.   This is Radio Bio!

Dr. Noah Whiteman: Coevolution and Insects

It can be hard to make decisions, but do you know that your cells makes decisions too? What is even more amazing is that we can actually watch cells do this. This week we discuss cells and how they communicate and understand each other with Dr. Orion Weiner from the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Dr. Orion Weiner

Life is complicated. Breaking down the living world into understandable pieces requires good experiments AND good theories. Science thrives on the feedback between theory and data. Our guest today specializes in connecting theories and models to empirical data from experiments. Join us for a fascinating discussion of ecological models, ecological experiments, and everything in between!

Voice Recorder

Dr. Ashkaan Fahimipour: Ecological networks

Vaccines and drugs to mitigate sickness have become a central part of modern life, and they have become a central topic right now as the COVID 19 pandemic has progressed. But how are vaccines developed? What is the difference between a vaccine and therapeutic drugs? And could we actually one day treat coronavirus with a pill? Today, we talk to Dr. Robert Davey, a professor of microbiology from Boston University, who is currently working on ways to find treatments for dangerous viruses. This is chapter 1 of our COVID interview series, in which we interview a series of professionals on different topics related to the pandemic. Tune in for our next chapter, an interview with Dr. Gaeta, a pediatric resident, on his experiences with the pandemic!

Chapter 1: Vaccines & Drug Development w/ Dr. Davey

Throughout this historic pandemic, there have been many changes to our social and work environments that have been far from our baseline. Work from home, has led to greater isolation and less ability to socialize with our coworkers and friends. This has undoubtedly affected the mental health of people all over the world, and this topic came up during chapter 4 of our COVID interview series, when Dr. Allen spoke about the mental health crisis emerging in Mariposa due to the stress of this pandemic. This inspired us to reach out to a mental health professional, specifically Dr. Tania Gonzalez, our very own director for Counseling and Psychological Services (or CAPS) at UC Merced. In this interview, we delve into the mental health impacts of this pandemic on undergraduate and graduate students at UC Merced, and the importance of maintaining laughter and routine as we come out of this experience. This is chapter 5 of our COVID interview series, in which we interview a series of professionals on different topics related to the pandemic. This is our final chapter in this release series, and we hope you have enjoyed hearing from many perspectives to gain greater context for what we have all been experiencing this past year.

Chapter 5: Mental Health w/ Dr. Gonzalez

What if I were to tell you that you had hundreds, if not thousands of microbes living on you hands, you would probably respond with ewwwwww...gross and immediately want to sanitize or wash our hands. If I were to tell you that not all of them are bad, but rather most of them are good, you might still be skeptical. Let’s take it one step further. What if I told you that we can use naturally occurring bacteria as a form of pest control. Wild right! One of these bacteria is Wolbachia. Wolbachia affects the reproductive system in certain insects and can make them sterile. The cool part is that Wolbachia do not affect humans or other large invertebrates, but it does infect many insects that we classify as pests. Today we explore the world of Wolbachia and learn about how these little bacteria can kick some insect pest butt with Dr. Amelia Lindsay......This is RadioBio!

Dr. Amelia Lindsey: The Microbial World (with Wolbachia)

This week on RadioBio, we explore insect wings. Did you know insect wings are more than just beautiful appendages? They are a part of an amazing circulatory network. We discuss the biomechanics of insect wings and what makes them so amazing with Dr. Mary Salcedo, a postdoc at Virginia Tech.
Link to Dr. Salcedo's Review: https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaa124
Link to Dr. Salcedo's Website: https://www.maryksalcedo.com

Dr. Mary K Salcedo: Expanding Wings

Ants, they are everywhere if you look for them! Ants engage in all the things that we associate with our own society, like farming and policing, and have complex social structures. This week on Radiobio, we talk to Dr. Ehab Abouheif, a professor from McGill University, about his research on cooperation in ants and the microbes that exist in symbiosis with them. This is RadioBio.

link to nature paper:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2653-6
link to deborah gordon: https://soundcloud.com/user-386034408/radiobio-interviews-dr-deborah-gordon?si=49cba8aa279942e9beec58588e983a24&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Dr. Ehab Abouheif: Ant Antics!

Have you ever thought about the soil beneath your feet? Let's take it one step further... have you ever thought about everything that lives in the soil beneath your feet? Well, prepare yourself, because this week we interview Dr. Lauren Hale, a researcher from the US Department of Agriculture, the USDA,  about her research on the soil microbiome. Dr. Hale talks about soil health, nutrient cycling, and the cutting edge of  research on the microbial world living underneath our feet. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Lauren Hale: Life Beneath Your Feet

We are still discovering the mysteries of the brain and one way to do that is to use tools such as computers. On this episodes of RadioBio, we speak with Dr. Kanaka Rajan, a computational neuroscientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Kanaka Rajan

Dr. Kanaka Rajan: Computational Neuroscience

Imagine you're a squid, yeah okay its weird but just imagine it, you are a squid swimming at night. It's a dark night except for the light from the moon, and there is a predator roaming around looking for its dinner. Now imagine you are a squid who can camouflage yourself to match the light from the moon and the stars so your shadow disappears. You trick the predator while you go on your way looking for your own dinner. Seems kind of magical right? Well that's exactly what bobtail squids do, except they get help from their bacterial friends. Today on RadioBio we talk with Dr. Michelle Nishiguichi, a professor at the University of California, Merced about glowing squids and their symbiotic sidekicks.

Dr. Michele Nishiguchi: Ink-redible Squids

Life finds a way. Even in the face of incredible pressure from other organisms, climate change, and pollution, species still find ways of persisting. Sometimes this pressure is too much, and populations go extinct. Why are some species able to survive, and others able to persist? How much pressure is too much pressure? And can species find ways to survive through their interactions with other species? We dive into all of these pressing questions and more with our guest this week, Dr. Diane Campbell, a distinguished professor from the University of California - Irvine. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Diane Campbell: Diversity from Adversity

We live in a microbial world. From our own gut to the corals in the ocean, microbes are key players in the existence of so many organisms. Did you know that corals are not just single organisms, but exist in symbiosis with millions of single celled algae? This symbiosis is currently threatened by global warming and climate change, resulting in a process you may be familiar with, called coral bleaching. This week, we spoke with Dr. Viriginia Weis about her timely and fascinating research on the topic of symbiosis between corals and algae.

INSITE Vision: Inspire an inclusive and diverse interdisciplinary community of scientists for the conservation of biological diversity and public education in a changing world.

INSITE Mission: Create novel tools to better conserve biological diversity under threat of climate change through cutting-edge research, scientific training, and public education.

Dr. Virginia Weis: Panic! At The Coral Reef

Nature versus nurture, the eternal question. We usually think of our genes as permanent, a part of our nature, something that is passed down to us and that’s it. But how much of our genes change as a results of our actions today? How much do our genes change because of what we have been eating for the past 10 years? Turns out, behaviors and the environment can actually change our gene expression! We delve into some of these factors with our fabulous guest this week, Dr.  Monica Dus, a professor of neuroepigenetics at the University of Michigan. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Monica Dus: You are what you eat!

There are plenty of fish in the sea… this week, we take that saying to a whole new level! Fish are incredibly diverse and their life cycle is complex;  this week on Radiobio we talk with Dr. Chrissy Hernandez about her research on fish population dynamics. Dr. Hernandez applies math to complicated ecosystem level questions, with fascinating results. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Chrissy Hernandez: There are plenty of otoliths in the sea

Imagine you are at a hot springs. The water is boiling and bubbling, there’s the smell of sulfur and other acrid chemicals in the air, and it is unbelievably hot. Is it possible that life can exist in these unforgiving conditions? It turns out yes! There are microbes, called thermophiles, that not only just exist in these conditions, but have adapted very particular ways of thriving in what are some of the most unforgiving conditions on our planet. This week, we talk to Dr. Ruben Michael Ceballos about these fascinating organisms. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Ruben Michael Ceballos: The Shocking Truth about Heat Shock Proteins

We’ve all heard of COVID-19, saw its impact on society, and probably even faced the respiratory illness itself. But is there… math behind this disease? And if so, can we use math to help fight COVID and other infectious diseases? It turns out that our collective behavior during outbreaks can mathematically fuel models of public health. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of mathematical biology. This is RadioBio.

Dr. Folashade Agusto: The Math Behind Outbreaks

The California academy of sciences is one of California’s oldest operating museums and research institutions. It is an invaluable repository of knowledge about the natural sciences, is home to 47 million specimens, and has hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. This week, on Radiobio, we had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Shannon Bennett, the chief and dean of sciences at the Academy. She gave us all the behind the scenes scoop about the academy of sciences, as well as her own fascinating path into science. This is Radiobio!

Dr. Shannon Bennett: From the Field to the Museum

We interviewed Dr. Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler, a professor of microbial ecology at Cal Poly Humboldt about her work on microbial community ecology on pitcher plants

Dr. Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler: Leaves Like Islands

QSB RadioBio interviews Dr. Nathan Lanning of CSU-LA.

QSB RadioBio interviews Dr. Nathan Lannning

Ever wonder where species come from? Do species even exist? Why do they matter? RadioBio discusses the speciation process through space and time with Dr. Jack Sites Jr.

QSB RadioBio interviews Dr. Jack Sites

How do cells interact with their physical environment? Dr. Otger Campas from the University of California,  Santa Barbara joins RadioBio to discuss the physical properties of cells and how the interactions between cells and their environment shape cell and organism development.

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Otger Campas

Two words: Flying Lizards. How'd it happen? Evolution. Evolutionary history is complicated. It can sometimes be helpful to look at funky animals to see what their unusual traits tell us about their history. For example, Dr. Jim McGuire from the University of California Berkley, studies the evolutionary correlates of size, color, and flight in lizards.

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Jim McGuire

We often imagine a cell as a large balloon filled with jelly, but really it is more like a large city. Packages need to go from one place to the  other in an organized fashion as to not disrupt other processes. For example, when we need an item, we go to the store or click away on  retail websites, but how do these items find their way to the retail place or our house? There are vehicles on roads and highways that are utilized for distribution. Much like the infrastructure that we use  everyday to move cargo around our cities, the cell has its own system to  deliver goods from one place to another. What are the 18 wheelers of  the cell, how do they move such important packages, and how do they know where to go? Cytoplasmic dynein is a protein complex that transports molecular cargo along and plays a key role in the intracellular trafficking network. Dr. Danielle Grotjahn utilizes specialized imaging techniques to study these structures and the function of motor proteins.

RadioBio Season 3

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Danielle Grotjahn

A lot of people don't like bats, even Batman is afraid of them. But maybe people are just afraid of what they don't know. Today Dr. Greg Mutumi talks to us about what makes bats so unusual, interesting, and, like he said earlier....cute!

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Gregory Mutumi

Have you ever wondered what powers us? We all consume food for energy, but HOW does that actually turn into energy?  You may be familiar with the molecule ATP, or adenosine triphosphate. ATP is used to store energy from the breakdown of food, and through a process called hydrolysis, that energy can be released and transferred to power reactions. This tiny but mighty molecule is what powers nearly every reaction in our cells. In this episode, we journey inside the cell as we learn more about this powerful molecule, and the specialized structure inside the cell where its made, the mitochondria.

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Shona Mookerjee

How do you search for a virus? Even worst, how do you search for a virus's DNA?  A virus you've never seen before and have no clue what it looks like! If you think of one of your cells as the size of a baseball stadium, a virus would about the size of a baseball. You could try a targeted approach by sequencing your best, educated guesses but with metagenomics you can sequence everything but the kitchen sink. This week we talk small viruses and big data with Dr. Eric Delwart.

RadioBio Interviews Dr. Eric Delwart

Have you ever thought about how light affects your behavior on a day to day basis? Now think about how light would affect you on a molecular scale? Molecules have a direct influence on behavior from sleep cycles to depression and motivation. Today we discuss molecules, how they affect animal behavior, and the origins of such an intimate relationship in molecular biology.

From Molecules to Behavior: Dr. Todd Holmes

Have you ever thought about brains? Our brains are seriously important, that's not news, but how do they actually work? There is a delicate balance between order and chaos. RadioBio this week is all about stability in the brain. Hopefully by the end you'll know a little bit more about how your brain works!

Homeostatic Regulation in the Brain: Dr. Dion Dickman

The immune system is complex, full of lairs of communication and strict regulation, all to keep us healthy and alive. But what happens when those checkpoints break down? In this weeks episode, we learn about how B-cells can turn against us and what that means. We talk to Dr. Roberta Polenda from University Colorado, Denver about her research on this subject.

Dr. Roberta Pelanda

RadioBio is a podcast where UC Merced biology graduate students talk with scientists about biological systems, from molecules to ecosystems.

RadioBio

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks