The scientific process has the power to deliver a better world and may be the most monumental human achievement. But when it is unethically performed or miscommunicated, it can cause confusion and division. Drs. Fang and Casadevall discuss what is good science, what is bad science and how to make it better. Get the book! Thinking about Science: Good Science, Bad Science, and How to Make It Better

Good Science, Bad Science and How to Make it Better with Ferric Fang and Arturo Casadevall

Dr. James Morton discusses how the gut microbiome modulates brain development and function with specific emphasis on how the gut-brain axis points to functional architecture of autism. Watch James' talk from ASM Microbe 2023: Using AI to Glean Insights From Microbiome Data https://youtu.be/hUQls359Spo

Using AI to Understand How the Gut-Brain Axis Points to Autism With James Morton

Dr. Michael ginger, Dean of the School of Applied Sciences in the Department of Biological and geographical Science at the University of Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire, England discusses the atypical metabolism and evolutionary cell biology of parasitic and free-living protists, including Leishmania, Naegleria and  even euglinids.

Atypical Metabolism of Leishmania and Other Parasitic and Free-Living Protists With Michael Ginger

Dr. Maria Eugenia Inda-Webb, Pew Postdoctoral Fellow working in the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT builds biosensors to diagnose and treat inflammatory disorders in the gut, like inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease. She discusses how “wearables,” like diagnostic diapers and nursing pads could help monitor microbiome development to treat the diseases of tomorrow.   Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS or by email. Ashley&#39;s Biggest Takeaways  Biosensors devices that engineer living organisms or biomolocules to detect and report the presence of certain biomarkers.   The device consists of a bioreceptor (bacteria) and a reporter (fluorescent protein or light). Inda-Webb’s lab recently published a paper in Nature about using biosensors (Sub-1.4 cm3 capsule) to detect inflammatory biomarkers in the gut. The work is focused on diagnosing and treating inflammatory bowel disease, but Inda-Webb acknowledged that that is a large research umbrella. The next step for this research is to monitor the use of the biosensor in humans to determine what chemical concentrations are biologically relevant and to show that it is safe for humans to ingest the device. It is believed that the gut microbiome in humans develops in the first 1000 days to 3 years of life. Early dysbiosis in the gut has been linked to disease in adulthood. However, we do not have a good way to monitor (and/or influence) microbiome development. Inda-Webb hopes to use biosensors in diapers (wearables) to monitor microbiome development and prevent common diseases in adulthood. In 2015, Inda-Webb became ASM’s first Agar Art Contest winner for her piece, “Harvest System.” Inda-Webb is the 2023 winner of the ASM Award for Early Career Environmental Research, which recognizes an early career investigator with distinguished research achievements that have improved our understanding of microbes in the environment, including aquatic, terrestrial and atmospheric settings.  Learn More About ASM’s Awards Program    Featured Quotes: We engineer bacteria to sense particular molecules of interest—what we call biomarkers—if they are associated with a disease. And then, we engineer a way that the bacteria will produce some kind of molecule that we can measure—what we call reporter—so that could be a fluorescent protein or light, like the one that we have in this device.  The issue is that inflammation in the gut is really very difficult to track. There are no real current technologies to do that. That is like a black box. And so, most of what we measure is what comes out from the gut, and has its limitations. It doesn&#39;t really represent the chemical environment that you have inside, especially in areas where you&#39;re inflamed. So, we really needed technologies to be able to open a window in these areas.  The final device that I am actually bringing here is a little pill that the patient would swallow and get into the gut. And then

IBS Biomarkers and Diagnostic Diapers With Maria Eugenia Inda-Webb

Dr. Gary Procop, CEO of the American Board of pathology and professor of pathology at the Cleveland Clinic, Lerner School of Medicine discusses the importance of early detection and diagnosis in order to prevent fungal invasion leading to poor outcomes, particularly in immunocompromised patients. He emphasizes the importance of thinking fungus early, shares his passion for mentoring and talks about key updates in the recently released 7th Edition of Larone’s Medically Important Fungi. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways  Many invasive fungal infections are angiotrophic, meaning they actually grow toward, and into, blood vessels. Once the fungus has penetrated the blood vessel, the blood essentially clots, causing tissue downstream from the blood clot to die (infarction). When tissues that have been excised are viewed under the microscope, hyphal elements can be seen streaming toward or invading through the wall of the blood vessels. Once the clot forms, those hyphal elements can be seen in the center of the blood vessel where only blood should be. Antifungals cannot be delivered to areas where the blood supply has stopped. Therefore, treatment requires a combined surgical and medical approach, and the process is very invasive. Early detection can prevent these bad outcomes by allowing antifungal treatment to be administered before angioinvasion occurs.  Links for the Episode:  Expand your clinical mycology knowledge with the recently released 7th edition of Larone's Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to Identification. Written by a new team of authors, Lars F. Westblade, Eileen M. Burd, Shawn R. Lockhart and Gary W. Procop, this updated edition continues the legacy of excellence established by founding author, Davise H. Larone. Since its first edition, this seminal text has been treasured by clinicians and medical laboratory scientists worldwide. The 7th edition carries forward the longstanding tradition of providing high-quality content to educate and support the identification of more than 150 of the most encountered fungi in clinical mycology laboratories.  Get your copy today with $1 flat rate shipping within the U.S. or order the e-book! ASM members enjoy 20% off at checkout using the member promo code.  Let us know what you thought about this episode by tweeting at us @ASMicrobiology or leaving a comment on facebook.com/asmfan.

Think Fungus Early: Preventing Angioinvasion Via Early Detection With Gary Procop

From antifungal resistance to disaster microbiology and tales of visible mold growing across the skin of patients following a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, Dr. Shawn Lockhart, Senior Clinical Laboratory Advisor in the Mycotic Diseases Branch at the CDC talks all things fungi—complete with references to pop TV shows and the recently released 7th Edition of Larone’s Medically Important Fungi. Links mentioned:   Larone's Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to Identification, 7th Edition (Use code: MCR20 at checkout for 20% off)  CDC’s Mycotic Diseases Branch conducts an annual training course on the identification of pathogenic molds.       

Moldy Skin, Invasive Aspergillosis and the Rise of Candida auris With Shawn Lockhart

Dr. Kate Howell, Associate Professor of Food Chemistry at the University of Melbourne, Australia discusses how microbes impact the flavor and aroma of food and beverages and shares how microbial interactions can be used to enhance nutritional properties of food and beverage sources. Ashley&#39;s Biggest Takeaways  Saccharomyces means sugar-loving fungus. Humans have similar olfactory structures and mechanisms as insects and are similarly attracted to fermenting or rotting fruits produced by Saccharomyces. Research has shown that insects (and humans) prefer yeasts that produce more esters and aromatic compounds. Palm wine is a product that is made from sap collected from palm trees (palm sap) across the tropical band of the world. Fruity flavors appear to be less important to persistence of Saccharomyces strains in an Indonesian palm wine fermentation. This may be because palm wine fermentation is very quick, generally 1-3 days often, with a maximum of 5 days for fermentation to be conducted. Wineries, on the other hand, ferment annually (one fermentation per year/vintage), when the grapes are right. Grape wine fermentations can take 7 days to 2 weeks to complete. So different selections likely take place between the 2 fermentation products.  Featured Quotes: When we start drawing our lens on how microbes produce food for humans, we&#39;re coopting a process that happens quite naturally. Here I&#39;ll start off talking about Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the main fermenting yeast in food and beverage production, because it&#39;s one of the most studied organisms and was the first eukaryote to be sequenced.  Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as the name implies, loves sugar, and it flourishes when there&#39;s a lot of sugar in the environment. Where is sugar found? In fruits, and that&#39;s done quite deliberately, because fruits develop sugars and flavors and aromas to attract a birds or insects or anything else that can carry their seeds elsewhere for dispersal.  Now, Saccharomyces lies dormant in the environment in a spore before it encounters a sugar-loving environment. And then it replicates very quickly and tends to dominate fermentation. Humans have coopted that into our kitchens, into our meals, into our lives, and we use that process to produce food.  As Saccharomyces starts to use this sugar, it balances up its metabolism. And as it does this, it produces aromas. These aromas have a lot of important characteristics. Humans love them, but insects also love them too.  I&#39;ve been interested in the yeasts that are found naturally in sourdough starters. Sourdough is a really interesting system. Because you&#39;ve got yeast and bacteria interacting with one another.  One of the things we are collaborating on with colleagues in France at Inrae, Dr. Delphine Sicard, is to understand some of the non-Saccharomyces yeasts that are naturally occurring in sourdough starters. So here we&#39;re looking at a collection of a yeast called Kazachstania humilis and t

Microbial Flavor Profiles for Bread and Wine Production With Kate Howell

Dr. Steve Diggle, ASM Distinguished Lecturer and Microbiology Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and Dr. Freya Harrison, Associate Microbiology Professor at the University of Warwick in Coventry, U.K., discuss the science behind medieval medical treatments and the benefits of interdisciplinary research. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways  Diggle and Harrison met in Oxford, where Harrison was finishing up her Ph.D. and Diggle was doing background research for his work studying evolutionary questions about quorum sensing. When Diggle began searching for a postdoc, Harrison, who had been conducting an independent fellowship at Oxford and studying social evolution, applied. The AncientBiotics Consortium is a group of experts from the sciences, arts and humanities, who are digging through medieval medical books in hopes of finding ancient solutions to today’s growing threat of antibiotic resistance. The group’s first undertaking was recreation and investigation of the antimicrobial properties of an ancient eyesalve described in Bald’s Leechbook, one of the earliest known medical textbooks, which contains recipes for medications, salves and treatments. The consortium found that the eyesalve was capable of killing MRSA, a discovery that generated a lot of media attention and sparked expanded research efforts.   The group brought data scientists and mathematicians into the consortium (work driven by Dr. Erin Connelly from the University of Warwick). Together, the researchers began scouring early modern and medieval texts and turning them into databases. The goal? To mathematically data mine these recipes see which ingredients were very often or non-randomly combined in ancient medical remedies. The group recently published work showing synergistic antimicrobial effects of acetic acid and honey. They are also working to pull out the active compounds from Bald’s eyesalve and make a synthetic cocktail that could be added to a wound dressings.   A 1,000-Year-Old Antimicrobial Remedy with Antistaphylococcal Activity. Medieval medicine: the return to maggots and leeches to treat ailments. A case study of the Ancientbiotics collaboration. Phase 1 safety trial of a natural product cocktail with antibacterial activity in human volunteers. Sweet and sour synergy: exploring the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of acetic acid and vinegar combined with medical-grade honeys.   Let us know what you thought about this episode by tweeting at us @ASMicrobiology or leaving a comment on facebook.com/asmfan.

AncientBiotics With Steve Diggle and Freya Harrison

Dr. Jessica Lee, scientist for the Space Biosciences Research Branch at NASA’s AIMS Research Center in Silicon Valley uses both wet-lab experimentation and computational modeling to understand what microbes really experience when they come to space with humans. She discusses space microbiology, food safety and microbial food production in space and the impacts of microgravity and extreme radiation when sending Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the moon. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways  Lee applied for her job at NASA in 2020. Prior to her current position, she completed 2 postdocs and spent time researching how microbes respond to stress at a population level and understanding diversity in microbial populations. She has a background in microbial ecology, evolution and bioinformatics. Model organisms are favored for space research because they reduce risk, maximize the science return and organisms that are well understood are more easily funded. Unsurprisingly, most space research does not actually take place in space, because it is difficult to experiment in space. Which means space conditions must be replicated on Earth. This may be accomplished using creative experimental designs in the wet-lab, as well as using computational modeling.  Links for the Episode:   Out of This World: Microbes in Space. Register for ASM Microbe 2023. Add “The Math of Microbes: Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Microbial Systems,” to your ASM Microbe agenda.  Let us know what you thought about this episode by tweeting at us @ASMicrobiology or leaving a comment on facebook.com/asmfan.

Sending Yeast to the Moon With Jessica Lee

Dr. Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Henry Rutgers Professor of Microbiome and Health and director of the Rutgers-based New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, and Dr. Martin Blaser, Professor of Medicine and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers (NJ) discuss the importance of preserving microbial diversity in the human microbiome. The pair, whose research was recently featured in a documentary The Invisible Extinction, are on a race to prevent the loss of ancestral microbes and save the bacteria that contribute to human health and well-being.  Links for the Episode:  The Invisible Extinction (documentary) Missing Microbes (book) Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues (article) (YouTube) Missing Microbes with Dr. Martin Blaser

Invisible Extinction: The Loss of Our Microbes with Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello and Martin Blaser

Dr. Robert Gaynes, distinguished physician and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University, joins Meet the Microbiologist for the 3rd , and final, episode in a unique 3-part segment, in which we share stories about the life and work of medial pioneers in infectious diseases. Here we discuss the career of Dr. Barry Marshall, the Australian physician who is best known for demonstrating in a rather unorthodox way that peptic ulcers are caused by the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori.  Gaynes is author of Germ Theory: Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases, the 2nd edition of which will publish in Spring 2023. All 3 scientists highlighted in this special MTM segment are also featured in the upcoming edition of the book.

The Self-Experimentation of Barry Marshall

Dr. Robert Gaynes, distinguished physician and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University, joins Meet the Microbiologist for the 2nd episode in a unique 3-part series, in which we share the impact of scientists at the heart of various paradigm shifts throughout scientific history. Here we discuss the life and career of Tony Fauci, the scientist who has been recognized as America’s Top Infectious Diseases Doctor and “voice of science” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways  Fauci was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a 2nd generation American whose parents came from Italy. Fauci’s father was a pharmacist in Brooklyn and was very influential in his life. During high school, Fauci worked behind the counter at the family pharmacy and even delivered prescriptions by bicycle. He attended a Jesuit high school in Manhattan, and attended the College of Holy Cross. After college, Fauci attended Cornell Medical School in Manhattan, which was his first choice of medical school. Fauci graduated first in his class in medical school in the mid 1960’s, right in the midst of the Vietnam War. During that time, after completing their initial residency training, virtually all doctors were drafted into one of the military services or the U.S. Public Health Service. Fauci accepted into the NIH program within the U.S. Public Health Service, where he acquired training and a fellowship in Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases. Fauci became the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) in 1984. Fauci served as advisor to 7 U.S. presidents, including Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. 15 years after the creation of PEPFAR, Fauci reported, in the New England Journal of Medicine, that PEPFAR funded programs had provided antiretroviral therapy to 13.3 M people, averted 2.2 M perinatal HIV infections and provided care for more than 6.4 M orphans and vulnerable children.  The first edition of "Germ Theory: Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases" is available now. The 2nd edition will publish in the spring of 2023.

The Career of Tony Fauci

Dr. Robert Gaynes, distinguished physician and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University, joins Meet the Microbiologist for a unique episode, in which we share the story of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the French, female scientist who discovered HIV and found herself at the heart of one of the most bitter scientific disputes in recent history.  Subscribe (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS or by email. Ashley&#39;s Biggest Takeaways  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report first reported on a cluster of unusual infections in June of 1981, which would become known as AIDS. Evidence suggested that the disease was sexually transmitted and could be transferred via contaminated blood supply and products, as well as contaminated needles, and could be passed from mother to child. All hemophiliacs of this generation acquired AIDS (15,000 in the U.S. alone). The fact that the microbe was small enough to evade filters used to screen the clotting factor given to hemophiliacs indicated that the etiologic agent was a virus. AIDS patients had low counts of T-lymphocytes called CD4 cells. By 1993, the most likely virus candidates included, a relative of hepatitis B virus, some kind of herpes virus or a retrovirus. Howard Temin discovered reverse transcriptase, working with Rous sarcoma in the 50s and 60s. His work upset the Central Dogma of Genetics, and at first people not only did not believe him, but also ridiculed him for this claim. Research conducted by David Baltimore validated Temin’s work, and Temin, Baltimore and Renato Dulbecco shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery in 1975. Robert Gallo of the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH), discovered the first example of a human retrovirus—human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1). Françoise Barré-Sinoussi worked on murine retroviruses in a laboratory unit run by Luc Montagnier, where she became very good at isolating retroviruses from culture. In 1982, doctors gave lab Montagnier’s lab a sample taken from a with generalized adenopathy, a syndrome that was a precursor to AIDS. Barré-Sinoussi began to detect evidence of reverse transcriptase in cell culture 2 days after the samples were brought to her lab. Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were recognized for the discovery of HIV with the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  Links for the Episode: From the ancient worlds of Hippocrates and Avicenna to the early 20th century hospitals of Paul Ehrlich and Lillian Wald to the modern-day laboratories of François Barré-Sinoussi and Barry Marshall, Germ Theory brings to life the inspiring stories of medical pioneers whose work helped change the very fabric of our understanding of how we think about and treat infectious diseases. Germ Theory: Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases  The second edition of Germ Theory, which will include chapters on Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Barry Marshall and T

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi's Discovery of HIV

Episode Summary  Dr. Devin Drown, associate professor of biology and faculty director of the Institute of Arctic Biology Genomics Core at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, discusses how soil disturbance gradients in the permafrost layer impact microbial communities. He also explains the larger impacts of his research on local plant, animal and human populations, and shares his experience surveilling SARS-CoV-2 variants in Alaska, where he and colleagues have observed a repeat pattern of founder events in the state. Ashley&#39;s Biggest Takeaways  Permafrost is loosely defined as soil that has been frozen for 2 or more years in a row. Some permafrost can be quite young, but a lot of it is much older—1000s of years old. This frozen soil possesses large storage capacity for walking carbon and other kinds of nutrients that can be metabolized by microbes as well as other organisms living above the frozen ground. About 85% of the landmass in Alaska is underlined by permafrost. Some is continuous permafrost, while other areas of landmass are discontinuous permafrost—locations where both unfrozen soil and frozen soil are present. As this frozen resource is thawing as a result of climate change, it is releasing carbon and changing soil hydrology and nutrient composition, in the active layer in the soil surrounding it. Changes in the nutrients and availability of those nutrients are also likely changing the structure of the microbial communities. Drown and team are using a combination of traditional (amplicon sequencing) and 3rd generation (nanopore) next sequencing (NGS) techniques to characterize the microbes and genes that are in thawing permafrost soil.  Featured Quotes: “Globally, we&#39;ve seen temperatures increase here in the Arctic. Changes in global temperatures are rising even faster, 2-3 times, and I&#39;ve heard recent estimates that are even higher than that.”  “These large changes in temperatures are causing direct impacts on the thaw of the permafrost. But they&#39;re also generating changes in other patterns, like increases in wildfires. We just had a substantial wildfire season here in Alaska, and those wildfires certainly contribute to additional permafrost thaw by sometimes removing that insulating layer of soil that might keep that ground frozen, as well as directly adding heat to the to the soil.”  “There are other changes that might be causing permafrost thaw, like anthropogenic changes, changes in land use patterns. As we build and develop roads into areas that haven&#39;t been touched by humans in a long time. We&#39;re seeing changes in disruption to permafrost.”  “Some people are quite interested in what might be coming out of the permafrost. We might see nutrients, as well as microorganisms that are moving from this frozen bank of soil into the active layer.”  “We&#39;re using next generation sequencing techniques to characterize not only who is in these soils, but also what they&#39;re doing.”  “I st

Permafrost with Devin Drown

Dr. Marie Landry, Professor of Laboratory medicine and Infectious Diseases at Yale University School of Medicine and Dr. John Booss, former National Director of Neurology for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs discuss the past, present and future of diagnostic virology. These proclaimed coauthors walk us through the impact of some of the most significant pathogens of our time in preparation for the launch of their 2nd edition of “To Catch a Virus,” a book that recounts the history of viral epidemics from the late 1800s to present in a gripping storytelling fashion.  Ashley&#39;s Biggest Takeaways  Coauthoring a book requires having great respect for the opinions of the person you are working with. The first human disease shown to be viral in nature was yellow fever, but for quite some time, the mode of disease transmission remained mysterious. In early 1881, Carlos Finlay of Cuba suggested that the disease could be spread by mosquitoes and significantly advanced the field. It wasn’t until polio was discovered in the early 1900s that scientists determined that viruses could also be transmitted by and animals. The ability to grow virus in tissue culture was another huge advancement in the field of diagnostic virology, which eventually led to the development of the Salk inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Although he did not seek the spotlight for his work, Walter Roe, was a bright, hardworking (and one of John’s favorite) virologist, who made important advances in tissue culture, researched the role of retroviruses in animal cancer and discovered adenoviruses.   As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinical laboratory played a central role in public health. The importance of a laboratory diagnosis became more evident and next generation sequencing moved further into the clinical lab.  Featured Quotes: “Advice that was given to me way back when I started on my first book is that you have to write about something you&#39;re passionate about. You have to really believe in the topic because otherwise it&#39;ll come across as superficial and artificial. So the very first step is do you really believe in, [and in the case of writing a book, that means] believe in what you&#39;re writing about.” – Booss.  “Science is often projected as a steady stream of advances one after the other. But there is a certain amount, I think, of arbitrary choice at each step. And it&#39;s also true for for writing a book.” – Booss  “In putting the book together, there are obviously major events that occurred in virology, major crises that move the field forward, an interplay, really, of the scientific advances, the clinical need of the crisis at hand and some very remarkable people. One highlight of this book is the way it does focus on individuals and their stories and how they contributed to that progress.” -Landry  “When [pathogens] spread from a local area to a larger area geopolitical area or even globally, they become pandemic.” Polio

To Catch a Virus with Marie Landry and John Booss

Dr. Wun-Ju Shieh, worked as a pathologist and infectious diseases expert with the CDC from 1995-2020. He recounts his experiences conducting high risk autopsies on the frontlines of outbreaks including Ebola, H1N1 influenza, monkeypox and SARS-CoV-1 and 2. He also addresses key questions about factors contributing to the (re)emergence and spread of pathogens and discusses whether outbreaks are becoming more frequent or simply more widely publicized. Ashley’s Biggest Takeaways: • Pathologists are a group of medical doctors serving behind the line of the daily hospital activities. • Pathology service can be divided into atomic pathology and clinical pathology. The field covers all the laboratory diagnostic work in the hospital, and clinical microbiology or medical microbiology is actually a subdivision within the clinical pathology service. • Usually, a pathologist working in a hospital will examine and dissect tissue specimens from surgery or biopsy. • The pathologist also performs autopsies as requested to determine or confirm the cause of death. • Serving as first a clinician in Taiwan and then a pathologist in the United States has provided Shieh with the unique experience of evaluating patients from both the outside-in and the inside-out! • Even when a major outbreak of a known etiologic agent is taking place, confirmatory diagnosis is necessary for subsequent quarantine, control and prevention of the outbreak. • During major disease outbreaks, other pathogens do not go away, and we must simultaneously facilitate their timely diagnosis to ensure effective patient treatment and care. • SARS-CoV-2 appears to be transmitted more easily than SARS-CoV-1. One possible explanation for this is that the amount of viral load appears to be the highest in the upper respiratory tract of those with COVID-19, shortly after the symptoms develop. This indicates that people with COVID-19 may be transmitting the virus early in infection, just as their symptoms are developing…or even before they appear or without symptoms. • SARS-CoV-1 viral loads peak much later in the illness. • Asymptomatic transmission is rarely seen with SARS-CoV-1 infection. • Almost 99% of SARS-CoV-1 patients developed prominent fever when they started to carry infectivity. Temperature monitoring was therefore, very effective at detecting sick patients and facilitating prompt quarantining procedures, which effectively contained/minimized transmission of the virus. • This was not as effective for SARS-CoV-2, despite early attempts at temperature. monitoring. • SARS-CoV-2 was much harder to contain both because of the milder display of host symptoms and the demonstration of higher viral transmissibility.

Outbreak Detection with Wun-Ju Shieh

Dr. Linden Hu, Vice Dean for Research at Tufts University in Boston Massachusetts and Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor in Immunology, discusses new and ongoing research pertaining to the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of human Lyme disease. He also discusses some of the key unanswered questions about Lyme, such as how B. burgdorferi adapts to different hosts and environments and why some patients have been known to exhibit persistent symptoms even after treatment.     Links mentioned:   Webinar - Vector-Borne Disease in a Changing Climate  https://asm.org/Webinars/Vector-Borne-Disease-in-a-Changing-Climate The Bulls-Eye Rash of Lyme Disease: https://asm.org/Articles/2018/April/going-skin-deep-investigating-the-cutaneous-host-p Pfizer and Valneva Initiate Phase 3 Study of Lyme Disease Vaccine Candidate VLA15 https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-valneva-initiate-phase-3-study-lyme-disease Could This Treatment Prevent Chronic Lyme Disease? https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/10/06/preventing-chronic-lyme-disease/ Promising New Drug Would Eradicate Lyme While Leaving Gut Microbes Alone: https://www.lymedisease.org/members/lyme-times/2022-spring-news/targeted-lyme-disease-drug/ A Tick’s Meal: https://asm.org/Podcasts/TWiM/Episodes/A-Tick-s-Meal-TWiM-258 Evidence That the Variable Regions of the Central Domain of VlsE Are Antigenic during Infection with Lyme Disease Spirochetes https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/IAI.70.8.4196-4203.2002 Distinct Roles for MyD88 and Toll-Like Receptors 2, 5, and 9 in Phagocytosis of Borrelia burgdorferi and Cytokine Induction https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/IAI.01600-07

Lyme Disease Prevention and Treatment with Linden Hu

Dr. Mark O. Martin, Associate professor of biology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington is a distinguished educator with a well-known social media presence. He discusses how he became interested in microbiology and what drives his varied research foci, including #Microbialcentricity, bacterial predation, bioluminescence, tardigrades, microbial midwives and more. In the process, he delves into his passion for using art and other creative approaches to facilitate learning in the classroom, and shares some experience-driven wisdom about building confidence in STEM. Links for this Episode:  Vertically transmitted microbiome protects eggs from fungal infection and egg failure  https://animalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42523-021-00104-5 The effects of Sceloporus virgatus cloacal microbiota on the growth of pathogenic fungi https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/summer_research/426/ Sex-specific asymmetry within the cloacal microbiota of the striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13199-010-0078-y Predatory Prokaryotes: An Emerging Research Opportunity (pdf)  https://www.pugetsound.edu/sites/default/files/file/martin2002_0.pdf Carleton College #LuxArt 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fztiJ3o7uWs

Tardigrades and Microbial Midwives with Mark O. Martin

Dr. Elizabeth Dinsdale, Matthew Flinders Fellow in Marine Biology in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, uses genomic techniques to investigate the biodiversity of microbial communities in distinct ecological niches, including coral reefs, kelp forest and shark epidermis. She discusses how shotgun metagenomics is being used to characterize the architecture of microbial communities living in the thin layer of underlying mucus on shark’s skin, and how understanding the function of these microbes is providing clues to important host-microbe interactions, including heavy metal tolerance. Ashley’s Biggest Takeaways: Sharks belong to a subclass of cartilaginous fish called elasmobranchs and are unique in that their epidermises are covered in dermal denticles—overlapping tooth-like structures that reduce drag and turbulence, helping the shark to move quickly and quietly through the water. These dermal denticles are sharp (if you’re going to pet a shark, make sure you go from the head to the tail to avoid getting cut!), and depending on the species of shark, may be more or less spread out across the epidermis. Where do microbes enter the story? Dermal denticles overlay a thin layer of mucus, which provides a distinctive environment for microbial life. Collecting microbial samples from underneath a shark’s dermal denticles is quite difficult, and the technique varies by shark species (shark size, water depth and ability to bite all factor into the equation). Liz’s team uses a specially designed tool that the group affectionately calls a “supersucker,” to create and capture a slurry of microbes and water for analysis. The team then uses shotgun metagenomics to identify and characterize the microbes in their collected samples. Sequencing has revealed biogeographical difference, as well as similarities in microbial architecture of whale sharks across the globe. There are 2 populations of whale sharks—one in the Atlantic Ocean and the other in the Indian Pacific Ocean. Samples collected from both populations have revealed that each individual whale shark, from within each aggregation, shares many of the same microbes. In fact, unlike algae which may share 1 to 2 microbial species, whale sharks share about 80% of microbes across every individual. Since many of the sharks don’t cross aggregations, Liz’s team is investigating the possibility of coevolution between microbes and hosts. Metagenomic sequencing also provides information about the function of the sequenced microbes. High presence of heavy metal-tolerant microbes has been found in the epidermis of all shark species that the team has analyzed. Sharks are known to carry high levels of heavy metals in their skin, muscle and even blood. However, muscle tissue samples contain lower concentrations than skin, indicating that there may be a density gradient in place, and raising questions about how microbes might be involved in this regula

Shark Epidermis Microbiome with Elizabeth Dinsdale

Dr. Mallory Choudoir, microbial ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shares how she leverages microbial culture collections to infer ecological and evolutionary responses to warming soil temperatures. She discusses complexities of the soil microbiome and microbial dispersal dynamics, and introduces fundamental concepts about the intersection between microbes and social equity. Ashley’s Biggest Takeaways: Microbial culture collections are fundamental resources, serving as libraries where diverse species of microbes are identified, characterized and preserved in pure, viable form. Culture collections ensure conservation of species diversity and sustainable use of the collected microbes. For soil microbiologists, like Mallory Choudoir, culture collections provide the opportunity to connect patterns of genomic variation and microbial physiology to the conditions under which a particular microbe was isolated. Soil is a complex environment from the perspective of a microbe. In order to coexist in such a biologically diverse environment, which consists of spatial heterogeneity, as well as heterogeneity in access to moisture and nutrients, microbes must evolve different strategies to survive as part of a stable community. Choudoir’s field site is based in the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research Program's field site, where coils are buried and have been heating the forest soil to 5 degrees above ambient temperatures for nearly 30 years. The study allows Choudoir and colleagues to observe and evaluate long-term responses to chronic soil warming stress. This research is important because microbes function as resources to the health and well-being of ourselves and our planet. Understanding how microbes adapt to biotic and abiotic stresses can help inform future conservation strategies, biotechnological approaches and applications and equitable allocation of microbial resources. Visit https://asm.org/mtm for links mentioned

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