Finding Genius Podcast

Research professor David Deamer's work led to the exciting discovery of lipid material in meteorites that are capable of "self-assembly" into membranous material, a key step in understanding the first cell membrane formation. He explains this and other life-origin elements, such as What scientists think may have happened in "hot little pools" around volcanic activity four billion years ago and how they are recreating these pools in the lab, Additional elements of biomolecular engineering research that enabled their design of these experiments that includes findings of stromatolites in Australia, and Next steps in his work on the road towards the first developments of metabolism and RNA catalyzation. David Deamer is a Research Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz. In this podcast he begins with the early days of his research, including a sabbatical in England when he worked with Dr. Alec D. Bangham, the inventor of liposomes, which are essentially drug delivery compounds made from lipids. Deamer and Bangham realized no one had figured out where membranes came from in the beginnings of life. That began a decade-long research project that included meteorites, lipids, astrobiology, and biomolecular engineering research. After he explains this discovery of "self-assembly" of membrane formation from these meteor lipids, he describes his current research, including steps toward understanding how a cell membrane might surround these other cell elements. He describes how monomers lead to polymers, which lead to amino acids and how nucleic acids eventually arise. He also gets specific about the steps of life and how his research now anticipates the beginnings of metabolism and RNA catalyzation. For more information, he advises searching the NASA website for astrobiology information. In addition, a journal called Astrobiology can be found at major academic research libraries and Nature and Science magazines publish exciting papers as well.

Professor Brian J. Ford is a prolific research scientist who launched numerous science communication projects for the BBC. In this discussion, he discusses a gamut of relevant microbiology topics, including his thoughts on Covid-19, or with the nomenclature he prefers, this new form of SARS, and various government and population reactions as well as ways we should prevents its spread in our homes, his ideas on the consideration if viruses are alive or not and why, and glimpses of his own historical involvement with microbiology, microbes, viruses, and interesting discoveries, including a look through one of Van Leeuwenhoek's original microscopes and original samples. Author of numerous books, professor, author, and scientist Brian J. Ford has spent a lifetime educating the public about science through research, projects with the BBC, and traveling the world lecturing. In this podcast, he discusses a variety of subjects about microbiology, microbes, viruses and other similar topics. He begins with a frank talk about Covid-19, which he feels should be more accurately called a new form of the SARS virus, which we faced in 2003. He explains that it is much more infectious, though kills less. But because it is so infectious and many countries have not stopped its spread early enough, it may reach many more people and ultimately be more deadly, therefore. He says many countries and communities minimalized the seriousness, dumbing down the reality of the virus and closing down too late. For example, he points out that in Germany and South Korea, leadership was organized and insisted on tracing every case and its contacts—Germany now has the lowest mortality rate in the world. The conversation also touches on many other subjects such as the often-argued topic of whether viruses are alive and why, including defining what qualities make something alive. He then discusses his sense of the living cell as not just part of our body. He looks at people as a community of living cells, sees us as fruiting bodies rather than an engineered machine of some sort. He then adds interesting stories about his own run in with history such as Van Leeuwenhoek's original microscopes, his thoughts on microbiomes, and modern theories about healthy eating. For more, see his website at http://www.brianjford.com/wcvgen.htm

For the past decade, the Collins Lab at MIT has been focused on using bioengineering principles to better understand antibiotics with the primary goal of discovering novel molecules that work effectively against bacterial pathogens. On this episode, you'll learn the following: What four primary mechanisms of antibiotic resistance are used by pathogens How AI can be used to identify certain features of molecules out of massive numbers of molecules and amounts of data Where Collins hopes to see his research and applications applied in the coming years James J. Collins, Ph.D., is a professor of medical engineering and science at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and head of the Collins Lab at MIT. About one year ago, he teamed up with colleague Regina Barzilay, one of the world's leading experts on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to healthcare. The goal was to determine whether the power of AI could be used to address the challenge of antibiotic resistance and bacterial pathogens through the discovery of new antibiotics. They began by putting together a training collection of over 2,500 molecules, including 1,700 FDA-approved drugs. This library was tested against E. coli in the lab to see which molecules might lead to inhibitory activity against the bug. Next, a deep neural network was trained using the data gathered and information about the structure of each molecule in the library. The trained deep neural network was then applied to a drug repurposing library containing several thousand molecules that have already been developed or are in the process of being developed as drugs. The neural network was challenged to identify molecules that are predicted to be antibiotics but don't look like any existing antibiotics: one molecule fit the criteria, and was named halocin. Halocin proved itself to be a potent novel antibiotic that worked against 35 out of 36 samples of multidrug-resistant, extensively drug resistant and pandrug-resistant pathogens from the CDC. In addition to the details of this exciting discovery that could change health and medicine for the better, Collins discusses the most common mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, why gram negative bacteria poses an extra challenge to the search for effective antibiotics, how AI could be used to identify features of molecules that make them amenable to gram negative bacterial uptake, the most useful strengths at the core of the AI technology being used in these capacities, the soon-to-be-launched Antibiotics AI Project, and so much more. Tune in for the full conversation and learn more at collinslab.mit.edu.

Chief Product Officer at Actuate, Ben Ziomek, joins the podcast to discuss a new and potentially life-saving application of artificial intelligence and computer vision technology. Tune in to learn the following: Why and in what ways in can be challenging to detect weapons on camera without the AI-based technology that's been developed and employed by Actuate How much video footage is necessary in order for this technology to identify and alert the authorities of a potential threat or gun detection How many false positives are generated on average, and the important trade-off between sensitivity and false positives Over the last several years in the U.S., there has been an unprecedented number of mass shootings and active shooter events. Unfortunately, even one second in the delay of an emergency response can cost several innocent lives. Actuate is an AI computer vision-based company that set out to address this problem. They began by speaking directly with law enforcement officers about what would help them mount more effective responses to these situations. One of the most consistent requests from these officers was for a way to determine where an active shooter is located within a building, and what type of weapon they have. In response, the team at Actuate has developed an AI and computer vision technology-based solution that can plug into virtually any security camera system that exists and instantly detect a visible weapon with better-than-human accuracy. In less than a single second, this technology can identify a weapon and alert the authorities. Each time there is an alert, a unique link is generated that can be shared with anyone who needs it, allowing those individuals to instantaneously track the person around the facility. Actuate is working with every type of security platform, and can notify teachers as well as automatically trigger the lock down of any facility when necessary. Press play for all the details and learn more by visiting actuate.ai.

Clinical psychologist and sleep expert, Yelena Blank, Ph.D., discusses sleep health and her approach to helping those who suffer from a variety of sleep and psychological disorders. On this episode, you'll learn the following: What type of patients Dr. Blank sees on a regular basis in the Bay Area, and how the tech industry and companies can play a role in the development of sleep issues, as well as contribute to sleeping problem and mental health solutions What type of approaches and practices Dr. Blank implements in addition to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (e.g. mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)) How the recent coronavirus and subsequent quarantine is affecting people's routines, psychology states, and sleep health, and how Dr. Blank's practice is acclimating to the change When Dr. Blank graduated from college with a degree in psychology, she wasn't sure how she wanted to apply what she'd learned. She decided to take a couple of years away from school to determine what exactly she wanted to do, and it was during that time that she encountered the world of sleep health and medicine, as well as the way in which trauma, PTSD, depression, and anxiety can affect sleep health. She was fascinated by it all, and decided that's what she wanted to pursue. She's currently a licensed clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area who provides sleep therapy and online events using evidence-based practices and tips combined with a nonjudgmental and collaborative approach to addressing her clients' challenges. She discusses insomnia, the ways in which she can fill a gap in treatment for those with sleep apnea, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, shift work sleep disorder, and the fallacy that being a "night owl" is somehow inherently "bad." She also touches on the ways in which the recent quarantine for coronavirus is affecting many of her patients, and how she's helping them use this time to their advantage. Press play to hear the full conversation and check out https://www.yelenablankphd.com/ to learn more.

Author Kevin Brown established and curated the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum in London. He tells listeners about the process of collecting special pieces and information to create an effective display, some lesser-known details about Fleming's life and discoveries, and perspective on how health and medicine history impacts current mindsets. Among other books, Kevin Brown authored Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution. In this conversation he talks about what it's like to be a historian in this sciences. He tells listeners that he studies the history of medicine because it's a subject which affect most of us—he is studying at a wider history that's also political and societal and affects all of us on a daily level. He adds that the communication of history is where he wants to be: he likes explaining the stories to people, feeling like he is walking in the footsteps of health and medicine history. He comments that there's an excitement that comes to talking to visitors and seeing the excitement in their eyes—perhaps inspiring some to be the Alexander Flemings of tomorrow. He continues with details of setting up the museum, procuring items, accepting special loans, and writing the material. Fleming's son gave the museum some items, in fact, and is a great supporter of the project. Brown shares the story of the summer Fleming made the infamous penicillin discovery, including details about other project of Fleming that lead to his mindset at the time. He also gives some perspective of the scientific mind and health and medicine history from the ancient Greeks to current ways we handle knowledge. For more, see the museum web site at https://fleminglaboratory.wordpress.com/ and email Kevin Brown through the museum at Kevin.Brown@imperial.nhs.uk.

Dr. Richard Allen White began RAW Molecular Systems, LLC, eight years after his mother's death from streptococcus complications. His mission is to push science from addressing the theoretical basics to advance to applied states to better serve people and agriculture. He explains to listeners the possibilities that lie with phages to fight dangerous phenomena such as antibiotic resistance, what two specific agricultural diseases his company is working to combat with phage cocktails, and the vastness of virus numbers and ancient place in the natural world's evolution and why they have therefore have tremendous potential to address pathogenic bacteria. Dr. Richard Allen White, III, has been focused on microbiology for the majority of his educational life. He has a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a Master's from Cal State East Bay, where he worked on HIV GEC responses. His company works on viruses that affect people, plants, fungi, and bacteria, though currently they are focused primarily on agricultural blights, namely the fire blight, which is a pathogenic bacteria that affects pears and apple crops, and a potato disease called verticillium, which is a devastating fungal pathogen. However, they are moving toward targeting human and bee diseases as well. He describes the very complex yet ancient arms race between viruses and bacteria, and how nature has given us an "Excalibur" of sorts with phages and the benefits viruses can offer us. In this constant battle between bacteria and viruses, a virus will take a clip of bacteria and uses it to defend itself against it later. This constant dynamic means viruses offer researchers numerous means to battle pathogenic bacteria and even other viruses. His company envisions that a wave of new therapeutics will come from synthetic microbiology. He explains that scientist can use natural viruses and combine them with a synthetic process involving phages. Researchers start from nature, knowing how a virus can infect a population, but then predict what will be infected and what they can do to magnify certain actions through synthetic means to fight pathogenic bacteria. For more, see the company's web site at https://www.rawmolecularsystems.com/index. In addition, Dr. Richard Allen White has started a YouTube channel to explain more about their research.

A specialist in pediatric transplantation for children facing liver and intestinal disease, Dr. Mazariegos discuss current practices. He explains how treatments can vary among the spectrum of ages and individual situations, advances that allow for a reduction of immunosuppressant drugs, including heightened monitoring abilities for asymptomatic viral biomarkers, and challenges in recommending treatments with possible future advancements in mind. Dr. George V. Mazariegos is the director of Pediatric Transplantation at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the departments of Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Critical Care Medicine. While he specializes in children with liver and intestinal disease, the center cares for all pediatric transplantation issues. He gives listeners an overview of transplantation history and explains the particular quality-of-life issues that involve pediatric patients. He comments that most pediatric patients, about 95%, require lifelong immunosuppression; a big focus of his research is understanding why that 5% doesn't need those drugs and what we can learn from them. Dr. Mazariegos explains that advances in viral detection and other monitoring tools have made it possible to reduce the amount of drugs patients need to take to the bare minimum. Therefore, they've been able to monitor the side effects and adjust the dosing before complications become significance. He adds a summary of the ways these drugs would change according to life stages various patients face. Finally, he addresses the near-term future of his field, describing the challenge of trying to balance what's "around the corner" with what doctors can and should proceed with for now. For example, gene therapies have been touted as "just around the corner" for 20 years. Therefore, while gene therapy is very promising as half these kids suffer from a genetic condition, it isn't a usable treatment yet. While there has been progress in the delivery of the gene vector, the efficacy hasn't been proven. For more, see his information page at https://www.chp.edu/find-a-doctor/service-providers/george-mazariegos-519, follow him on Twitter with @CHPtransplant, and email him through his CHP web site information page. He's Happy to chat with parents and patients.

In this informative podcast, Luis P. Villarreal, Professor Emeritus, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, provides an overview of his thoughts on biological changes, virus evolution, viral gene therapy, and more. Podcast Points: Why is coronavirus more concerning than the standard flu? An overview on the origin of the coronavirus How do species continue to thrive while existing with persistent lifelong infections? As a Founding Director of the Center for Virus Research, Villarreal has long been interested in research related to viruses. Villarreal holds a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, and a BS from California State University at Los Angeles, in Biochemistry. Dr. Villarreal discusses the current state of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), commonly referred to as simply, coronavirus. He provides specific information on the origin of coronaviruses. As Dr. Villarreal states, most emerging viruses that go on to cause acute epidemics or a pandemic, typically come from a particular species found in the region that has a persistent lifelong infection. Bats, in particular, harbor a great deal of coronaviruses, as well as other viruses. These viruses are specific to the species and within the host species, they typically show almost no evidence of disease. These viruses are passed from generation to generation in bats, but have almost no effect on bat health; it's an epigenome of the bat. The research doctor provides some interesting examples of specific studies of mice. He explains the research that shows how mice, like some other species, benefit from the viruses they carry because the virus can act as a way of ensuring a particular colony's survival. For example, when mice engage in reproductive contact between colonies, the mice that are not colonized with the virus will die off. Dr. Villarreal talks about the ways that coronavirus establishes itself in hosts. This coronavirus is particularly difficult to tackle because it is quite successful at transmission, because hosts who carry the virus will often have no signs, or few signs, of any actual infection. He states that this virus presents a complex problem because it, unlike some other viruses, seems to be acting as if it is trying to establish a persistent infection in humans, in a similar manner to how persistent infections become established in animal species. In this event that is happening now, Dr. Villarreal states that this is an event of communication that has brought technology and science to its knees with the power it has exerted over human biology. Unfortunately, the United States' delayed reaction, its slow response to the coronavirus, is going to make things worse than they might have been if the virus had been taken seriously at the beginning. Dr. Villarreal talks about some of the medications that are being repurposed for possible treatment of coronavirus. He discusses the clinical trials that are in progress and the need for immediate action. Continuing, Dr. Villarreal talks about the damage to the immune system that coronavirus creates, but details are thin at this point as to why it is happening. Going further, Dr. Villarreal talks about the virus and how it continues to retain its ability to harm in other species. Dr. Villarreal is an SACNAS Distinguished Scientist, and he was recognized with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from California State University, the National Science Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, and was elected as Fellow of the American Society of Microbiology.

Dr. Adam Arkin's research focuses on the synthetic biology of microorganisms, environmental genomics, and molecular ecosystems biology. On today's episode, you will learn: How many microbes exist in a single gram of soil, and how scientists conduct research in the lab to try to identify how all of these microbes interact and function as a community What bacteriocin is and how it can utilize a partial phage to kill other bacteria directly How to understand the longitudinal dynamic between viruses and bacteria At the University of California, Berkeley, Adam Arkin, Ph.D. is researching one of his primary interests, which is how microbes (i.e. bacteria, archaea, viruses) transform the environment and impact various processes, including the processes that occur in our own bodies. He is working on how to track and characterize groups of microbes, understand how they operate together, and determine the ways in which we may be able to intervene in order to get microbes to do things that are beneficial to us. The largest projects he's working on involve terrestrial environments, such as the subsurface of a watershed. In particular, Dr. Arkin and his team are researching the microbes in a field behind the Oak Ridge National Lab, where the soil is contaminated with uranium and has the highest level of nitrates on Earth. In that location, microbes breathe in the metals and transform them to immobile and relatively harmless substances. Dr. Arkin explain how this may be applied to the agricultural arena in order to use microbes that mobilize nutrients for crops, protect them from pathogens, increase resilience to drought, and improve their ability to sequester carbon, thereby reducing greenhouse gasses. He continues by discussing the potential of a human microbiome that is resistant to invasion by pathogens and allows us to make better use of nutrients. What's stopping the development of this? Dr. Arkin explains that despite the growing amount of data being gathered in the field, there are still huge gaps in basic data about the composition and function of microbial genes in a wide range of conditions. Consider, for example, that a single gram of soil contains one million microbes and about 10,000 different species of microbes, and that the human gut contains just as many, if not more. He explains the approach that has allowed his research and the research of others to show that most large community microbial dynamics can be described by much smaller numbers of pairwise interactions. In other words, predictions about a large community of microbes can be made based on observations of smaller number of pairwise interactions among community members. In addition to all of this, Dr. Arkin takes a look at viruses and phages, bacteriocin, mechanisms of cell sensing, the various uses of phages (including those in the therapeutic realm), in what ways his research relies on machine learning and computational biology, and so much more. Tune in for the full conversation and visit http://genomics.lbl.gov/ and http://enigma.lbl.gov/ to learn more.