In the Spotlight

In the Spotlight is a science communication podcast where we interview graduate students or postdoctoral fellows in the sciences about their research and how it relates to the world around us. What problems are they trying to solve? What should we all understand about their work? What policies may be needed to support this research? These are the questions we will try to answer on In the Spotlight. This podcast is hosted and produced by Emily Schafer and Nicolas Scrutton Alvarado, and supported by Northwestern University's Science Policy Outreach Taskforce (SPOT).

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In the Spotlight

The Microbiome In The Spotlight

December 16, 2021 • Northwestern University Science Policy Outreach Taskforce • Season 2 • Episode 13

We live in a bacterial world. Not only are the microscopic organisms all around us, they're found inside our bodies -- living and growing alongside us. Joining us to tell us all about the wonders of the microbiome is Dr. Liisa Veerus. It turns out some bacteria may be more important than we realise.

If you want to learn more about the topics discussed in this episode, check out:

A quick read on our ancestral microbiome
A free, at-home gut test that could be a fun experiment for the entire family
A list of foods to feed your microbiome during the upcoming holidays
A fascinating read on the link between breast milk and a newborn's microbiome
Gut Wars, an online activity from Dr. Foster's lab at Oxford, teaching us about bacterial characteristics

Make sure to reach out to Liisa on Twitter!

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @SpotlightThePod to stay up-to-date on all news and episode releases!

Learn more about Northwestern University SPOT on Twitter @SPOTForceNU or at our website spot.northwestern.edu

Podcast artwork created by Edie Jiang, available at her website https://ediejiang.weebly.com/ or on Instagram @ediejiang

Music in this episode: Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyadenCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_earthMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/5yIbZVOv438