Holobiont

About Holobiont

A podcast at the crossroads of microbiology, immunology, evolution, computational biology and more. Through informal interviews with researchers and students, I explore how biological organisms are "holobionts": super-organisms formed by a host and all of its communities of micro-organisms ( bacteria, viruses, fungi...)

Publisher

Ursule Demael

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 May 2021

Latest episode

13 Nov 2022

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Nov 2022

   #22 Can (and should) we patent DNA ? (Jorge L. Contreras)

   Jorge L. Contreras is a Professor of Law at the University of Utah, specialising in Intellectual Property and Technology Law. He is the author of 150+ scholarly publications, alongside praised non-fiction books including “The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to determine who owns your DNA” (2021). This book explores the AMP vs Myriad Case, which was sparked by patents litigations on the breast cancer gene BRCA for diagnostics, and historically determined that naturally occuring genes cannot be patented. Timestamps [01:00] Fundamental Principles of Patenting [08:30] Novelty and Utility in Patenting [10:40] BRCA and the AMP vs Myriad Case [17:00] Ethics of gene patenting [23:30] The case for gene patents in biotech [28:15] Alternative intellectual property than patents [33:00] Gene patents on pandemic pathogens [38:00] Patents in a globalised world [44:00] Future challenges in biotech patents The Genome Defense Book Website : https://genomedefense.org (https://genomedefense.org/) A thought about the genome as a public good, like a shared universal truth contained in all life forms, and faithfully entrusted from one generation to the next **Whoever has seen the universe, whoever has beheld the fiery designs of the universe, cannot think in terms of one man** (Borges, The God's Script (La escritura del Dios))

2. 

   30 Oct 2022

   #21 The Tangled Story of H.pylori (Barry Marshall)

   Barry Marshall is a Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. Alongside Robin Warren, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for first showing that Helicobacter pylori bacteria, rather than acid, were the cause of stomach ulcers. For this, Marshall did a self-experiment where he ingested H.pylori and gave himself acute gastritis, establishing a first link between the infectious agent and the development of gastric disorders. We also embark on (a few) tangents: [00:00] The acid theory of ulcers [09:20] Curiosity-driven research [11:10] Self-experiment ingesting H.pylori [24:15] Non-invasive diagnostics [31:00] Peer-review [40:45] Reproducibility [46:15] Unanswered questions around H.pylori [50:35] Bacteria as vectors [57:45] Inflammation and cancer [1:05:00] The Microbiome Revolution [1:13:20] Charles Darwin [1:18:45] Book recommendations [1:21:10] Karry Mullis Barry Marshall's blog: http://barryjmarshall.blogspot.com Barry Marshall's Nobel Lecture (2005): https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2005/marshall/lecture/ Kary Mullis' Book: Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (1998) Brother Surgeons: Brother Surgeons (1963) Garet Rogers

3. 

   28 Jul 2022

   #20 Philosophy of Immunology and the Biological Self (Thomas Pradeu)

   Thomas Pradeu is a CNRS Research Director in Philosophy of Science, leading a group at the ImmunoConcept called Conceptual Biology and Medicine. His group explores conceptual aspects spanning immunology, evolutionary biology, ageing and the microbiome. We discuss: What Philosophy of Immunology is How to assess the influence of an idea Misconceptions about the immune system The usefulness of the self/non-self framework Definitions of cancer in multicellular organisms How to integrate philosophy in science The ImmunoConcept lab page: https://immunoconcept.cnrs.fr

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.