Sunday, May 30, 2010

BacterioFiles Episode 13


In this show, I report on four exciting stories: bacteria made to clean up pesticides, new findings from microbial fossils, fighting bacteria with bacteria, and cells with synthetic genomes.

(Image credit: Tom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman of the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at the University of California at San Diego)


Download Episode (13 MB, 14 minutes)

Download Sections:
Intro
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Ending Comments

Show notes:
Story 1: News item 1/News item 2/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal Paper
Story 3: News item/Journal Paper
Story 4: News articles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7/Journal Paper/Video

Other interesting stories:
**New method for studying metabolism of microbial communities
**Making bricks out of bacteria and sand
**Op-ed about the potential for life on Earth unrelated to the life we know
**Study about biocathodes for microbial fuel cells
**Yeast used for wine could be good for bioethanol too
**Article about bacteria and clean fuel production
**How adding good bacteria to soil could help wheat grow
**Soil microbes may "breathe" organic matter as well as minerals
**Cheese seems like a good carrier for probiotics for elderly
**Quick-evolving bacteria may be good for digestive health
**Human microbiome project stories: 1 2 3
**Bacteria share genes more with family
**Genes of bacteria that are good for plant growth
**Gut bacteria of tsetse fly could help prevent sleeping sickness

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or SciencePodcasters.org

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

BacterioFiles Episode 12


In this show, I report on four exciting stories: interesting organisms found living in acid, purple bacteria's efficiency in capturing light, a cocaine overdose treatment from bacteria, and comparing E. coli to Linux.

(Image credit: Yale, PNAS)


Download Episode (13.3 MB, 14.6 minutes)

Download Sections:
Intro
Current Event
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Ending Comments

Show notes:
Current Event: News item 1/News item 2/News item 3
Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal Paper
Story 3: News item/Journal Paper
Story 4: News item 1/News item 2/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:
**Fear of Earthly microbes contaminating Mars
**Where oil comes from
**Fossils on Earth give hints about finding Martian life
**How probiotics are used more than they are known to work
**Fighting brain cancer with viruses
**A company that makes "solar panels" filled with microbes
**How soil microbes shouldn't be as bad for global warming as was thought
**How gut microbes affect bowel health
**A plant virus that now infects vertebrate animals
**Probiotics help premature infants
**How some marine bacteria can use sunlight too
**How gut microbes can affect celiac disease

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or SciencePodcasters.org

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

BacterioFiles Episode 11



In this show, I report on four exciting stories: a probiotic bacteria that can fight cancer, bacteria in dust that affect asthma, microbes living in a lake of asphalt, and a census of marine microorganisms.



(Image credit: Dirk Schulze-Makuch)


Download Episode (13.4 MB, 14.75 minutes)

Download Sections:
Intro
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Ending Comments

Show notes:
Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal Paper
Story 3: News item 1/News item 2/Submitted Paper
Story 4: News item 1/News item 2/Slideshow

Other interesting stories:
**Plant fungal disease that uses different tactics depending on which part of the plant it’s infecting
**Using microbes to clean up groundwater pollution
**The Navy investigating ways to use microbes to power small devices
**A species of bacterium that produces lots of hydrogen gas
**Using a microbe to protect grapes from grey mold
**Study about how probiotics may not help Salmonella food poisoning
**Paper about recently-discovered salt-loving archaea found in the human intestine
**Eukaryotic plankton in the ocean actually incorporate a lot of carbon dioxide into their cells
**Article describing the job of planetary protection officer for NASA

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.