Skip to content
PodcastsLife SciencesThis Week in Microbiology

This Week in Microbiology

Vincent Racaniello
This Week in Microbiology
Latest episode

361 episodes

  • This Week in Microbiology

    Nitrogen Fixation Goes Eukaryotic

    31/07/2026 | 56 mins.
    TWiM explains major implications of the link between plastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance, and the discovery of a new organelle, the nitrogen-fixing nitroplast.
    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson
    Become a patron of TWiM.
    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Links for this episode
    Plastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance (Appl Envir Micro)
    The great Pacific garbage patch (YouTube)
    Rumen microbiome (Nat Biotech)
    Nitrogen-fixing organelle in marine alga (Science)
    This cell just changed biology (YouTube)
    Take the TWiM Listener survey!
    Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv
  • This Week in Microbiology

    359: Kin Killing and Metal Hunger

    18/07/2026 | 48 mins.
    TWiM explains how cannibalism shapes biofilm structure and composition in Bacillus subtilis, and the importance of manganese uptake in uropathogenic E. coli during urinary tract infection.
    Become a patron of TWiM.


    Links for this episode:


    Cannibalism shapes biofilm structure (mBio)

    Manganese and uropathogenic E. coli (mBio)

    Regulation of Bacterial MntH Genes (NLM Bookshelf)



    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv
  • This Week in Microbiology

    358: Gut Microbes and ALS

    04/07/2026 | 58 mins.
    TWiM explains the connection between inflammation caused by microbial glycogen in the gut and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and how disruption of cysteine metabolism leads to synthetic lethality and in vivo fitness impairment in Acinetobacter baumannii.


    Become a patron of TWiM.


    Links for this episode:


    Myeloid cell gene prevents inflammatory response to microbial glycogen (Cell Rep)

    Cysteine metabolism and fitness impairment in Acinetobacter baumannii (mBio)



    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv
  • This Week in Microbiology

    357: Remembering Elio at Tufts

    15/06/2026 | 55 mins.
    TWiM visits Tufts University School of Medcine and are joined by John Coffin, Michael Malamy, and Verna Manni for a tribute to Elio Schaechter who was chair of Molecular Biology and Microbiology for 23 years.
    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin
    Guests: John Coffin, Michael Malamy, and Verna Manni
    Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, RSS, or by email.
    Become a Patron of TWiM!
    Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv
  • This Week in Microbiology

    TWiM 356: Nanopore to the bone

    28/05/2026 | 49 mins.
    TWiM explains how Streptococcus mitis bacteriocins drive contact-dependent lysis of S. pneumoniae facilitating transformation, and microbial dominance in diabetic foot osteomyelitis determined with nanopore sequencing.
    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson
    Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, RSS, or by email.
    Links for this episode
    Streptococcus mitis bacteriocins drive contact-dependent lysis of S. pneumoniae (mBio)
    Microbial dominance in diabetic foot osteomyelitis determined with nanopore sequencing (J Inf Dis)
    Diabetic foot ulcer review (World J Clin Cases)
    How nanopore sequencing works (YouTube)
    Become a Patron of TWiM!
    Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees.
    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv
More Life Sciences podcasts
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.
Podcast website

Listen to This Week in Microbiology, Phenomena Podcast: The Science & Stories of Energy Healing and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features
This Week in Microbiology: Podcasts in Family
  • Podcast This Week in Virology
    This Week in Virology
    Health & Wellness, Medicine, Science