One of the many reasons I am a member of the American Society for Microbiology is their dedication not only to excellent science, but science communication and public policy. “Microbes After Hours” is one of their fabulous science communication events. Since 2012, the ASM headquarters in Washington, DC has opened its doors to anyone interested in microbiology for talks, appetizers, and some microbially-fermented beverages. For those who can’t make it to DC, the talks are live streamed through ASM’s MicrobeWorld site. Speakers even take questions via email and twitter at the end of the talk. Fortunately, my mama-scientist, microbe-road trip friend, Robin Munroe, and I made it down in person to the January 28, 2016 Microbes After Hours that featured Dr. Marti Blaser talking about his research and book, Missing Microbes. Read more about his book in this previous post. I was thrilled to finally get my copy of his book signed! Below is our journey in photos compliments of Robin! She also live-tweeted our trip. For future adventures – follow me on Twitter @mostlymicrobes. Microbes After Hours Do you have questions about this or Dr. Blaser’s book? Anything else microbe related? Feel free to ask in the comments section below, fill out a
#MicrobeWeek: Continuing the Celebration
More #MicrobeWeek YouTube videos including one we made. Yesterday’s post on #MicrobeWeek featured a fabulous video Microbes of New York from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). #MicrobeWeek was inspired the current microbially focused exhibition The Secret World Inside You, at AMNH (see my review). AMNH teamed up with BrainCraft, Gross Science, and Science Friday to create four YouTube videos and other content about their favorite microbial research.
#MicrobeWeek: Celebrating the Small
The American Museum of Natural History, PBS’ Brain Craft and Gross Science, and Science Friday have teamed up to spread the love and importance of microbes during #MicrobeWeek! You still have a few more days to celebrate #MicrobeWeek – a celebration of the small and certainly my favorite week! #MicrobeWeek was created by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in celebration of their current microbially focused exhibition The Secret World Inside You, (see my review). AMNH teamed up with BrainCraft, Gross Science, and Science Friday to create four YouTube videos and other content about their favorite microbial research. Erin Chapman, Senior New Media Specialist at AMNH, says, “We figured with all the “awareness” hashtag days out there, microbes certainly deserve their own week. It’s really only recently that the study of the microbial world has become (as curators Susan Perkins and Rob DeSalle describe in their book Welcome To the Microbiome) “a full-fledged scientific field,” but the amount of research that’s being done now is just phenomenal. To me, it feels like microbiome research is a big part of the contemporary scientific zeitgeist, but hasn’t yet made as huge an impression on the general public. We want to get folks as
Missing Microbes and Increased Antibiotic Resistance
Dr. Martin Blaser’s book Missing Microbes details his observations and hypotheses on how overuse and misuse of antibiotics may be the source of modern non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, and obesity. The maps of the U.S. colored with obesity and antibiotic prescriptions fit extremely well – and centered on my Southern homeland. Could it be that the obesity epidemic, diabetes, allergies, asthma, and other non-communicable diseases that are centered over the American South are not due to our preference for all things fried or sopped in butter and washed down with a swig of sweet tea? It’s not just due to sitting in front of screens too much. Certainly poor diet and little exercise don’t help. But could an over-use of antibiotics also be to blame? That was the hypothesis. Obesity Caused by Over Use of Antibiotics? Dr. Martin Blaser from NYU’s experimental research on mice demonstrated drastic changes in the different types of gut bacteria present before and after antibiotic use. More strikingly, when the antibiotic use was discontinued and the bacterial populations rebounded, the bacterial types that did come back were different metabolically. Antibiotics drastically effected the gut microbiome. Does antibiotic somehow set us on a path
Soil Microbes: Unseen But Essential
Nutrients in the soil are essential to healthy plants, especially plants we eat for food. This recent infographic from the FAO does an excellent job of conveying how to amend soils to improve soil and plant health. Unfortunately, what is missing is who is actually making those nutrients and driving the system! SOIL MICROBES. Amending the soil feeds the microbes who recycle these components into usable nutrients. It’s estimated that there are about 100 million microbes in 1 gram of soil. That’s bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi, and archaea. These microbes are essential for recycling dead plants and animals into the macro and micronutrients for living plants, and in turn, ourselves, to use. An excellent collaboration the Earth Microbiome Project examines the microbiome of many different places on Earth. Currently, I’m reading The Hidden Half of Nature by David Montgomery and Anne Biklé, which explores the importance of microbes in general, especially in soils and plants. A review on that book later. There are many good resources on the soil microbiome and plant root (rhizosphere) microbiomes and the scientific literature is vast. One excellent way to comb through the microbiome literature is Elizabeth Bik’s Microbiome Digest. Here’s a link to papers