This Week in Microbiology

Vincent Racaniello

4.8 (499)
LIFE SCIENCES
UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

This Week in Microbiology is a podcast about unseen life on Earth hosted by Vincent Racaniello and friends. Following in the path of his successful shows 'This Week in Virology' (TWiV) and 'This Week in Parasitism' (TWiP), Racaniello and guests produce an informal yet informative conversation about microbes which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.

NOV 8

The Microbes in Your Food

TWiM focuses on recent foodborne outbreaks of bacterial infections, and how nanopore sequencing technology can be used to identify pathogenic microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes in food products. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Foodborne outbreaks (CDC) Race to nourish a warming world (Gates Foundation) Nanopore sequencing of foods (Food Microbiol) How is Oxford Nanopore used? (YouTube) Introduction to Nanopore sequencing (YouTube) Methods for detecting foodborne pathogens (Appl Micro Biotech) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

1 hr
OCT 25

Rockstars of USAMRIID

TWiM travels to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to learn how research conducted at USAMRIID leads to vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs that protect both warfighters and civilians. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guests: Norman Kreiselmeir, Christopher K Coat, Keersten Ricks, and Eric Nguyen Links for this episode: U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Threading the NEIDL (TWiV 200) Unintentional importation of B. pseudomallei into US (Emerg Inf Dis) Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo) Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project) Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

1h 15m
OCT 11

The Dark Side of the Rumen

TWiM explains a project to engineer the cow microbiome to reduce emissions of methane, and the finding of antibiotic resistance genes in the genomes of giant viruses. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo) Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project) Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

52 min
SEP 27

How To Pick a Winner

TWiM explains how bacterial community structure can be used to predict athletic performance in racehorses, and the idea that a tiny fraction of all species forms most of Nature. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Mark O. Martin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Microbiome picks a winner (Sci Rep) Picking a Winner by Reading the Form Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes by Stephen Jay Gould How much does it cost to breed a horse? Date of birth and purchase price as foals or yearlings and race performance Rarity as a sticky state (PNAS) How many species on Earth? (PLoS Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

1h 7m
SEP 14

Bat White-nose Syndrome

TWiM explains unique modifications in the energy conservation pathways linked to methanogenesis in an Archaeon, and mechanisms of white nose fungal invasion of cells from the Little Brown Bat. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Methyl-reducing methanogenesis (Nature) Pathogenic strategies of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Science) Adaptive fungal invasion of bat cells (Science) Little brown bat (Critter Catalog) Nature Notes: Little Brown Bat (Harpswell) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

55 min
AUG 23

Food Addiction and the Gut Microbiome

TWiM describes experiments to explore gut microbiota signatures of vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans, and how a phage tail-like protein suppresses competitors in populations of bacteria of plants. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Gut microbiota and food addiction (Probiotics) Blautia may have probiotic properties (Gut Microbes) Blautia wexlerae ameliorates obesity and type 2 diabetes (Nat Commun) Phage tail–like bacteriocin suppresses competitors (Science) What is a bacteriocin? (Front Micro) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

56 min
AUG 9

How Pseudomonas Became A Global Pathogen

TWiM explores evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas infections of plants, and the impact of COVID-19 on ESBL-producing E. coli on urinary tract and blood infections. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas (Science) Type III secretion system, infection by injection (Nat Comm) Demographic inference with skyline plots (Peer J) Skyline plots (Taming the Beast) Panaroo, a bacterial genome analysis pipeline (Wellcome Sanger Inst) Impact of COVID-19 on ESBL-producing E. coli infections (Antimicro Resist Inf Control) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

58 min
JUL 27

Microbes Sculpt Our Planet and Manage Inflammation

TWiM explores the deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet (NY Times) Living bioelectronics resolve inflammation (Science) Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation (Science) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

53 min

See All (322)

4.8

out of 5

499 Ratings

Amazing. 10/10.

05/13/2022

EvelynDevelyn

I’m a high schooler who hasn’t really had the chance to make any microbiology classes, but this makes me want to go into the field. Comprehensive enough that you don’t have to be a microbiologist or have some fancy degree to understand what they’re talking about, but they don’t dumb it down which is nice. Great podcast!
Journal club reimagined

01/09/2021

ebkp

I always think that if this had been what journal club was like, it would have been a lot more fun. Just talking through good papers and good science (without picking apart every figure) and having some laughs. Good times!
Great podcast very informative!

10/30/2020

Mark4732783

This is a 10/10 as well as all the podcasts made by the same host, highly recommend.
The best microbiology podcast

08/22/2020

in_log_phase

I love this podcast and have been listening for years. I appreciate the vast scope of microbiology that is covered as well as the integration of current events. Each one of the hosts makes you feel like you know them personally. My first ASM-Microbe conference was in Atlanta a couple of years ago and admit that I was a complete fan girl when I got a seat during the the TWIM live taping.

This Week in Microbiology is a podcast about unseen life on Earth hosted by Vincent Racaniello and friends. Following in the path of his successful shows 'This Week in Virology' (TWiV) and 'This Week in Parasitism' (TWiP), Racaniello and guests produce an informal yet informative conversation about microbes which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.