Meet The Microbiologist - The Scientists Behind The Microbiology

Most bacteria live a sedentary lifestyle in community structures called biofilms. Vaughn Cooper tells us what bacterial biofilms are, why biofilms differ from test tube environments, and how long-term evolution experiments combined with population genomics are teaching us how bacteria really work. He also discusses using hands-on bacterial evolution activities to introduce high schoolers to future STEM possibilities. Host: Julie Wolf Subscribe (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the ASM Podcast app. Julie's biggest takeaways: Cells in a biofilm shift to dedicate their resources to protection rather than reproduction. This allows biofilms to be innately more resistant to antibiotics than those growing in planktonic culture. One of the least-understood parts of a biofilm cycle is the dispersal stage. What cues or signals influence some biofilm-embedded cells to leave? This is a vital part of biofilm formation, since these dispersal cells can eventual