Microbe Talk

Microbiology Society
  • 4.6 (14)
  • NATURAL SCIENCES
  • EVERY TWO MONTHS

Microbe Talk is a podcast from the Microbiology Society, interviewing researchers about bacteria, viruses and parasites. We are the largest microbiology society in Europe, covering all aspects of microbial science.

  1. 29/12/2025

    Society Staff Reflect on 2025

    In this episode of Microbe Talk, we meet some members of staff at the Microbiology Society to reflect on 2025 and look at ways to get involved in 2026.

    20 min
  2. Hidden Companions: How Parasites are Adapting to a Changing World

    17/12/2025

    Hidden Companions: How Parasites are Adapting to a Changing World

    The relationship between humans and parasites is changing along with the climate crisis, globalisation, and innovations in science. In this month's Microbe Talk, we chat to expert Kinga Kowalewska-Grochowska at the University of Alberta, Canada, about the evolutions in how we look at parasites, where they are found, and what the future holds for diagnosing and treating these illnesses. This follows Kowalewska-Grochowska's latest review of the same topic published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. If you’d like to read the paper, you can do so by following this link. Stay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about exciting new research in the world of microbiology. You can download a full, auto generated transcript of the podcast here.

    26 min
  3. The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: From discovery to community

    06/11/2025

    The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: From discovery to community

    In 2019, a mysterious shape appeared on a petri dish in a Birmingham lab. Its surprising appearance, similar to noodles, intrigued researchers to find out more about it. They consulted other scientists online at the time, which sparked an idea to start an online club dedicated to sharing laboratory contaminants. Now, the team finally publish their research characterising this contaminant as a new species of bacteria, Kocuria rhizophila, in our journal Microbial Genomics. Researchers Rob Moran and Greg McCallum join Communications and Media Officer Lilly Tozer to talk about their journey from discovery to publish. If you’d like to read the paper, you can do so by following this link: microb.io/47L8aoY Stay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about exciting new research in the world of microbiology. You can download a full, auto generated transcript of the podcast here: microb.io/3J6DUf3

    18 min
  4. Chemical Conversations: Exploring the gut:brain link in bipolar treatments

    28/07/2025

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

    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 this episode is available on our website.

    30 min
  5. From workshop to publication: discussing microbiome safety with Lindsay Hall and Aline Metris

    27/06/2025

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

    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.  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.  You can also read a full auto generated transcript of the podcast on our website here.

    23 min
  6. Dr Beth Mills and Akpan Friday on international collaboration and mentorship

    28/05/2025

    Dr Beth Mills and Akpan Friday on international collaboration and mentorship

    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 KitesYou can download a full transcript of the podcast by visiting our website here.

    22 min
  7. Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Andrew Spicer

    03/04/2025

    Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Andrew Spicer

    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.

    21 min
  8. Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Guilherme Neumann

    02/04/2025

    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. 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.

    9 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Microbe Talk is a podcast from the Microbiology Society, interviewing researchers about bacteria, viruses and parasites. We are the largest microbiology society in Europe, covering all aspects of microbial science.

Information

  • Creator
    Microbiology Society
  • Years Active
    2012 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Microbiology Society
  • Show Website
    Microbe Talk