The third episode of The Microbiome Podcast is now available. We had a great conversation with Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, a professor at Georgia State University. We talked about his research and had a really interesting discussion on his paper on emulsifiers and their impact on the microbiome and inflammatory diseases. We asked Dr. Gewirtz if his research resulted in his changing his diet as well as a quick discussion on Georgia State and their chances in the NCAA tournament.
Listen to the podcast here on our website. Here on iTunes. And here on Stitcher.
And see here for more detailed show notes:
The episode begins with David and William discussing a few recent news stories about the microbiome:
- (1:47) uBiome recently announced a citizen campaign on Indiegogo for dental microbiome sequencing. Learn more about the new campaign.
- (5:15) Synthetic Biologics announced positive results of a phase 1 clinical trial to prevent C. diff infection. Read about the clinical trial.
- (7:45) Evotec and Second Genome announced a collaboration to develop microbiome drugs together. Read about the collaboration.
In the conversation with Dr. Andrew Gewirtz (10:22) they discuss:
- Dr. Gewirtz’s research on metabolic syndrome, a term for conditions that are related to diabetes. Learn more about Dr. Gewirtz and his research.
- (13:38) His research on Toll-like receptor 5 and how it activates innate immunity in order to combat infectious agents. Read his paper in Science.
- (21:09) Emulsifiers and his most recent research that showed emulsifiers in food may lead to inflammatory diseases. Read the Nature paper. Read our blog post on the study.
- (32:33) If Dr. Gewirtz changed his diet as a result of the research and if supplement testing methods need to be changed.
- (39:19) Dr. Gewirtz’s alma matter the University of Albany and Georgia State University where he is a professor, two teams that made the NCAA tournament.
After the interview (42:50) William and David gave their own NCAA picks and make a friendly wager on their picks.