Jul 7, 2023
The study of evolution has experienced a tremendous revolution
with the advances in current sequencing technologies enabling e.g.
rapid whole genome sequencing.
Dr. Vaughn Cooper, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who
studies evolution in microbes, has taken advantage of these
technologies to delve into how microorganisms adapt and evolve in
different environments. microTalk caught up with Dr. Cooper at the
ASM Microbe conference in Houston and discussed microbial evolution
with him.
Dr. Cooper discusses the power of next generation sequencing for
the study of evolution, how mutation rates affect evolution, how
providing hands-on evolution experiments to high school students
can stimulate the next generation of scientists, how scientists
need to work to combat public distrust of science, how antibiotic
resistance evolves in the presence of immunodeficiency, and how his
initial experience with baculoviruses hooked him into a lifelong
study of evolution.
This episode was supported by Darbie’s pinworm detection kit, to combat nematodes in your bikini bottom.
Participants:
- Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA)
- Vaughn Cooper, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh)
- Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA)
- Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)