PodcastsScienceThis Week in Microbiology

This Week in Microbiology

Vincent Racaniello
This Week in Microbiology
Latest episode

349 episodes

  • This Week in Microbiology

    348: The Bark Side of the Microbiome

    21/1/2026 | 53 mins.
    TWiM explains the finding that owning a dog during adolescence alters the microbiota and improves mental health, and the molecular basis for multidrug efflux by an anaerobic-associated resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter.
    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.
    Become a patron of TWiM.
    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Links for this episode
    Dog ownership and the microbiome during adolescence (iScience)
    Molecular basis for multidrug efflux (Nat Comm)
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    Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to [email protected]
  • This Week in Microbiology

    347: At Wound's Edge

    05/1/2026 | 55 mins.
    TWiM explains how S. aureus pathogenicity is a dynamic, niche-specific choreography that constantly recalibrates in response to the host microenvironment, and short chain fatty acids produced by commensal microbiota reduces its competitive fitness.
     
    Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

    Guest: Mark O. Martin
     
    Become a patron of TWiM.


    Links for this episode:


    Niche-specific fitness of S. aureus at the wound edge (Nat Comm)

    Commensal derived short chain fatty acids attenuate S. aureus (mBio)

    Ditch the term pathogen (Nature)


     
    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]
  • This Week in Microbiology

    346: Metabolism and Porin Permeability

    13/12/2025 | 53 mins.
    TWiM explains how competition for nutrients anticipates and potentially mitigate drug side effects on the gut microbiota, and metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance.
    Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt and Petra Levin
    Guest: Mark O. Martin
    Become a patron of TWiM.
     
    Links for this episode:
    Nutrient competition predicts drug effects on microbiota (Cell)

    Metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance in E coli (Nat Micro)

    Santiago Cano-Muniz

     
    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]
  • This Week in Microbiology

    345: Faster Than Rocks!

    22/11/2025 | 53 mins.
    TWiM explains a biological mechanism that links sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments, and "swashing," a form of surface movement in which bacteria migrate without active propulsion.
    Hosts:  Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin
    Guest: Mark O. Martin
    Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, RSS, or by email.
    Links for this episode
    Sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments (Nature)
    Bacterial surface migration by swashing (J Bacteriol)
    Become a Patron of TWiM!
    Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]
  • This Week in Microbiology

    344: Ant Yogurt and Fine Chocolate

    08/11/2025 | 1h 6 mins.
    TWiM reveals the bacteria, acids, and enzymes behind yogurt made with ants, and a defined set of microbes that reproduces attributes of fine flavor chocolate fermentation
     
    Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin


    Guest: Mark O. Martin
    Become a patron of TWiM.


    Links for this episode:


    Making yogurt with ants (iScience)

    The Alchemist Restaurant

    How to make classic tuiles (MasterClass)

    Defined microbes for chocolate (Nat Micro)

    Microbial chocolatiers of fine flavour (Nat Micro)

    Blind taste every chocolate bar (YouTube)


     
    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

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About This Week in Microbiology

This Week in Microbiology is a podcast about unseen life on Earth hosted by Vincent Racaniello and friends. Following in the path of his successful shows 'This Week in Virology' (TWiV) and 'This Week in Parasitism' (TWiP), Racaniello and guests produce an informal yet informative conversation about microbes which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.
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