The JGI launched two podcasts in March 2020. Check out these audio stories, complete with transcripts.
Genome Insider hosted by Menaka Wilhelm
“Genome Insider” is a podcast that showcases the work of JGI collaborators in brief forays, connecting audiences with the people behind the science. Hear diverse voices in science talk about their groundbreaking research to better understand — and harness — the superpowers encoded in plants, fungi, microalgae, environmental viruses, and bacteria to contribute to a more sustainable world. Learn about JGI-supported projects, delving into the researchers’ motivations, the insights that amaze them, and how their work contributes to solving energy and environmental challenges.
Natural Prodcast hosted by Dan Udwary
“Natural Prodcast” is a “fireside chat”-style podcast about natural products and the science and scientists of secondary metabolism. Natural products, secondary metabolites, and specialized metabolites all refer to the chemicals that make species unique and different from one another. They are incredibly important to medicine, the environment, and human health. As the JGI acts on its goals in — and builds out its capabilities for — secondary metabolism research, “Natural Prodcast” serves as an important line of communication to the scientific community. Host Dan Udwary talks to luminaries in the field about current and future developments, and how the JGI can be part of that space.
Recent and Past Podcasts from JGI
Listen to all the latest episodes of Genome Insider and Natural Prodcast.
Genome Insider is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn Radio – Subscribe today! Natural Prodcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify – Subscribe today!
- JGIota: A Tool to Find the Nomadic Genes that Help Microbes Adapt – geNomad (9/21/2023) - A quick snippet on Antonio Camargo and Simon Roux, a few of the JGI researchers behind software that finds plasmids and viruses within microbial genomes. As mobile genetic elements like viruses spread their DNA, they can affect how microbes cycle nutrients and adapt to climate change.
- Natural Prodcast Episode 21 – Elizabeth Parkinson (9/7/2023) - Natural Prodcast guest Betsy Parkinson from Purdue on bacterial signaling molecules and regulation of biosynthetic pathways, student mental health, and getting kids interested in microbiology.
- Natural Prodcast Episode 20 – Brian Bachmann (8/10/2023) - In Natural Prodcast, guest Brian Bachmann covers genome mining from cave environments, and using biosynthetic engineering and synthetic biology to modify and analog complex natural product molecules. Natural Prodcast co-hosts Dan Udwary and Jackie Winter chat with Brian Bachmann on genome mining from cave environments, and using biosynthetic engineering and synthetic biology to modify and analog complex natural product molecules
- Genome Insider S4 Episode 4: Methane Makers in Yosemite’s Lakes – Mike Beman and Elisabet Perez Coronel (6/29/2023) - Meet researchers who have hiked, rafted and met local wildlife (a marmot!) as they’ve sampled the microbial communities living in the mountaintop lakes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These lakes are isolated, but varied. They’re a great way to see how climate change affects freshwater ecosystems, and how those ecosystems work.
- Genome Insider S4 Episode 3: A Shrubbier Version of Rubber – Andrew Nelson and Colleen McMahan (6/22/2023) - Right now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule.
- Genome Insider S4 Episode 2: The Busy World of Deep Sea Eruptions – Anna-Louise Reysenbach and Emily St. John (6/15/2023) - The ocean depths are vast and dark. But there are hotspots on the ocean floor — underwater volcanoes and hydrothermal vents — where lively microbial communities thrive, and even support entire ecosystems. Hear from researchers Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Emily St. John, Gilberto Flores, and Peter Girguis about sampling these communities, and understanding how they’ve adapted to this extreme environment.
- Genome Insider S4 Episode 1: Crops as Tough as World Cup Turf – James Schnable and Guangchao Sun (6/8/2023) - In our warming world, we’ll need corn, sorghum and other crops to grow well in worse conditions: with more heat, less water and less fertilizer. Grasses do better in these conditions, so plant biologists James Schnable, Guangchao Sun and Vladimir Torrres have looked into traits that could transfer from grasses into other crops. One grass they studied just happened to be the same species that covered World Cup pitches in 2022.
- JGIota: A biofuel breakthrough in anaerobic fungi with Michelle O’Malley and Tom Lankiewicz (3/30/2023) - Michelle O'Malley and Tom Lankiewicz of UC Santa Barbara discuss the importance of studying anaerobic fungi, as well as a recent discovery that turns scientific presumption on its head and opens up a new avenue to explore for efficient biofuel production.
- JGIota: Sequencing Shiitakes with David Hibbett (3/2/2023) - David Hibbett (Clark University) fills us in on the kind of decay that makes shiitake mushrooms special. This week, he 39 collaborators published a paper tracing how these mushrooms have evolved.
- Natural Prodcast Episode 19 – Bill Fenical (2/9/2023) - Natural Prodcast guest William Fenical of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the beginnings of marine natural products, his experiences in drug discovery, and exploring marine bacteria for novel chemistry.