Finding Genius Podcast

How can GI health significantly determine the general health of the rest of the body? Since so many bodily systems utilize products produced along the gastrointestinal tract, minor issues can be increased throughout the body. Listen up to learn: How the gut microbiome has the potential to make or break the body's health How the Western diet may be threatening your gut's health How "bacterial economics" governs GI systems Executive vice president and chief medical officer at Seres Therapeutics, Dr. Lisa von Moltke, discusses her work developing therapeutic techniques to treat gastrointestinal conditions and microbiomes. Through the study of how the gut microbiome and gastrointestinal health affect the operation of the rest of the body, new therapies have been developed to combat GI-targeted infections. New therapies are also being produced to prevent infection with patients undergoing transplants and grafts. Immunosuppressants are also a weak point regarding g...

"Who eats first?" Richard asks Dr. Emeran Mayer as the researcher discusses his new book about the gut-immune connection. The answer is as complex as gut health and immune system interactions, but also just as fascinating. Listen and learn: How the rapid timeline of microbiome research led to understanding connections between gut microbiota and immunity, How facial expressions from emotions are also happening, in a sense, in the gut, How your brain monitors what's happening in your gut through the gut-immune connection, and What hormones are released in your gut and how those tie to emotional reactions. Dr. Emeran Mayer's discusses his latest book, The Gut-Immune Connection: How Understanding the Connection Between Food and Immunity Can Help Us Regain Our Health. He digs deep on some of this timely book's topics, including the ties between our emotions and gut processes. The trillions of microbes producing their own chemicals, or metabolites make for qui...

Ants are perfect models for Manuela Ramalho's research interest in microbiome and host symbiosis. Ants have one of the widest global distribution and habitat diversity of any animal. She captures her enthusiasm and shares it with listeners as she discusses the ecological role of insects and her research on ants. Listen and learn What key questions and ant facts are tied to a better understanding of their microbiome, How elements of an ant's ecosystem such as an ant's habitat and may or may not impact their microbiome, and How microbiomes might differ across different ant species and roles within a colony. Ant scientist Manuela Ramalho grew up in Brazil, an ecosystem flush with insects. Her academic life brought her in touch with all the possibilities of ant research and she's turned that work into a specialization in their microbiome. Now a postdoc researcher at Cornell University, she opens up this research world to listeners, offering an understanding of what we...

Tiny microbes make a huge difference in our health. These internal ecological systems utilize communication or signaling to maintain this health, effecting immune system function. This podcast shares an important discovery in this communication that influences receptivity to cancer treatment. Listen and learn. How scientists knew the human microbiome influences cancer immunotherapy, but couldn't identify a key player in this mucosal immunology impact factor, What study Dr. McCoy put into play to identify this player in the immune system of the human body, and What steps they might now be able to take to harness the power of the microbiome and translate it to therapies. Dr. Kathy McCoy is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Calgary and the director of the International Microbiome Centre. Her research is focused on interactions between the microbiome and immune system and she shares an exciting just-published study that presents a k...

Science journalist and author of a revolutionary book on psychobiotics shares compelling insight on the latest research in microbiome and gut-brain connection research. Tune in to discover: In what specific ways the behavior of mice has been shown to change in response to the presence or absence of gut bacteria What role the vagus nerve may play in the gut-brain connection What types of foods lead to physical and functional changes in the brain identifiable via MRI, and how these changes may be associated with greater resilience during stressful situations How your gut microbiota could be controlling your cravings Psychobiotics are a class of microbes that help improve mood. In 2003, research on germ-free mice resulted in a shocking finding: there is a causal connection between bacteria and behavior.  Anderson explains all the details of this research and how it has served as a launching pad for additional research in the field. He discusses the production and functi...

Gavin Douglas and colleagues published a paper assessing microbiome research and assertions that the human microbiome explains missing heritability in nature. He discusses this issue and explains What are classic ways of understanding genetic variation in humans and how recently microbiome research has entered this understanding, What the holobiont model is and how it involves claims regarding the microbiome and missing heritability in nature, and How their paper views the microbiome as more of potential element in genetic variation in humans and necessitates more consideration regarding how to integrate it outside of the strict, holobiont model. Gavin Douglas is a PhD Candidate in the Langille Lab in the Deptartment of Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University. His background is in human genetics and he has just published an intriguing paper called “ Re-evaluating the relationship between missing heritability and the microbiome ” in the journal Microbiome . He help...

Trent Northen studies the chemistry of microbiomes. More specifically, he studies how exogenous metabolites structure a microbial community , and, in turn, how those microbes change the metabolite pool and grow the microbial population. Because his work is primarily funded by the Department of Energy, he's focused on the microbial community in soil and on plant roots. He describes The basic cycle of plant life, metabolites, and the microbial population and how this complex system affects each of its parts; The methods of his lab's research, including studies on hydroponic plant systems that are paired with the work of colleagues in the field; and The applications for these studies, like carbon restoration in poor, less fertile soils. Trent Northen is the Interim Deputy of the EGSB Division and a Chemist Senior Scientist at the Berkeley Lab of Biosciences. He begins the podcast describing the rich and complex cycles of plant, metabolites, and microbes, noting  how plants...