Microbe Talk

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbes and microbiology have been in the news over the last month. Listen to Matt and Laura discussing how microbiologists are tackling the amount of plastic waste used in laboratories, ash dieback and a COVID-19 story that Matt just couldn’t resist talking about. This month's stories: https://www.scie...

In this Microbiology Today episode of Microbe Talk, Laura revisits interviews with some of the Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize winners. The Microbiology Society's Fleming Prize is awarded each year to an early career researcher who has achieved an outstanding research record within 12 years of being awarded their PhD. As part of our 75th Anniversary celebrations, the Microbiology Society plan...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including a surge in plankton in the Arctic, using fungus to produce handbags and the microbiology behind June's mass elephant die-off. Flu jabs limited due to high de...

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed how we live and work. For scientists, this means that for the time being conferences have had to change. At the Microbiology Society, we recently held an online conference for early career microbiologists. In this month’s episode, Matt talks to Meaghan Castledine, a PhD student who spoke at the conference. They discuss how she got into microbiology, wha...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including how insect wings are inspiring new ways to fight superbugs, an extreme fungus that could protect astronauts from deadly radiation and the huge plankton bloom...

Last month, on 29 July, the Microbiology Society hosted a one day online workshop to support ongoing and future research around the pandemic. It was a fantastic event, headed by an organising committee of Professor Peter O’Hare, Professor Mark Harris, Professor Paul Kellam, Dr Steve Griffin and Dr Lindsay Broadbent. In this episode, Laura speaks with Lindsay, Steve and Peter about the day and how,...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including parasitic fungi with behaviour-changing effects, medieval medicines and the smell of sweat. Return of the zombie cicadas: manipulative qualities of fungal-in...

On this month’s Microbe Talk, Matt talks to Dr Arwyn Edwards; an Arctic microbiologist based at Aberystwyth University. Dr Edwards recently published a paper in Microbial Genomics entitled ‘Microbial genomics amidst the Arctic crisis’. Dr Edwards and Matt discuss the paper, the challenges of working in the Arctic and how Arctic microbial research is changing To read the article visit: www.microbio...

As part of our 'A Sustainable Future' policy project, the Microbiology Society's policy team have produced three special episodes of Microbe Talk to explore the role of microbiology to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. This episode, Eva speaks with Professor Alison Smith Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Emilia Wojcik, PhD student at the Univ...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including the effect of e-cigarettes on the microbiome, the disease decimating bananas and an incredible discovery inside a fungus.  The National Centre for Type Cultu...

As part of our 'A Sustainable Future' policy project, the Microbiology Society's policy team have produced three special episodes of Microbe Talk to explore the role of microbiology to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. This episode, Emily speaks with Professor Laura Piddock from the University of Birmingham, who is currently on secondment as the Director of Scientific Affairs, Global...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. This episode, Laura and Matt discuss how microbiologists are working to improve the pneumococcus vaccine, the new species of fungus discovered through the power of social media and how microbes could be used to reduce coral bleaching. Links to the news stories discussed during...

As part of our 'A Sustainable Future' policy project, the Microbiology Society's policy team have produced three special episodes of Microbe Talk to explore the role of microbiology to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. This episode, Hannah speaks with Dr Ellie Harrison, Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield and Luke Hillary, PhD student at Bangor University to find out about...

As you may know, 2020 is the Microbiology Society’s 75th anniversary. In order to properly commemorate this, we wanted to do some suitably big celebrations. On this month’s Microbe Talk, Matt talks through one of the celebratory project, ‘Showcasing why Microbiology Matters’, with Dr Chloe James, Chair of the Communications Committee.

As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including developing a vaccine for malaria, breakthroughs in protist genomics and using bacteria to help plants grow in salty soil. Links to the news stories discussed during this episode can be found below: Research reveals a new malaria vaccine candidate: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...

Laura speaks with Alice Fraser from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Alice is part of a research team looking for new antibiotics in unexpected places. Listen to the episode to find out about her research searching for antibiotic proteins in snake venoms and find out what Alice has found so far. Music: Jason Shaw CC.BY 3.0

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As COVID-19 is taking over the news elsewhere, we decided to focus on other stories from the microbial world, including the microbiome of turtles, how bacteria are being used to clean groundwater and a new way to tackle Candida auris. Links to the news stories discussed during...

This month on Microbe Talk, Laura speaks with Haoxiang Wu, PhD student at Hong Kong Baptist University. In some tropical climates, mould growth is managed by near-constant use of dehumidifiers or air conditioners, which has a great environmental impact. Haoxiang’s research involves using fluid dynamics to control indoor mould growth in a sustainable way. Read the following articles to find out mor...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As well as discussing microbiology news stories, which include protecting coral reefs from climate change, new antibiotics and radiation-eating fungi; this month Laura and Matt give an update on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Links to the news stories discussed during this...

Protists are an extremely important part of many ecosystems, but people don't often consider their significance and the biodiversity they represent. In this episode of the podcast, Laura speaks with Professor Genoveva Esteban who is based at Bournemouth University, UK. Genoveva's research focuses on the biodiversity of aquatic systems in the UK, particularly at a microbial level.

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss microbiology in the news over the last month. As well as discussing microbiology news stories, which include chronic wasting disease, 3D printing and ancient fungi; this month Matt and Laura give a timeline of Coronavirus. Links to the news stories discussed during this episode can be found below: World’s oldest fungi fou...

For countries like Malaysia, Tanzania and the Philippines, seaweed agriculture is a major industry. However, these countries still see significant crop losses due to disease and pests. So what role does microbiology have in helping these countries’ growth in the industry? On this month’s episode Matt visited London’s Natural History Museum to talk to Professor Juliet Brodie. Professor Brodie is a...

This is a special Microbiology Today edition of Microbe Talk. The latest issue of the Society’s magazine, Microbiology Today, focuses on natural products and drug discovery. In this podcast we talk with two researchers about their work to find new antimicrobial compounds that could be used to form new treatments: Lorena T. Fernández-Martínez from Edge Hill University about her research on actinomy...

Anyone who’s been enjoying the sun on a nice summers evening knows the dreaded whine made by mosquitoes on the hunt for a meal. In recent years mosquitoes have been appearing in the news more and more due outbreaks of diseases such as dengue and zika. As if getting bitten by a mosquito wasn’t bad enough, if it is carrying the arbovirus, the saliva causing the annoying itchy bumps is actually helpi...

MicroNews is the sister series of our podcast Microbe Talk, where we discuss some of the times microbiology has been in the news during the past month. In this episode, Matt and Laura discuss the differences in microbial diversity in rural and urban areas, climate change and its effect on otters and a piece of new research investigating how an emerging virus might affect frogs. Links to the news s...