Biomes
Dr. Ruairi Robertson
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Top 10 Biomes Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Biomes episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Biomes for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Biomes episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
06/10/24 • 56 min
Increasingly, dietary sugar is being replaced by non-caloric sweeteners in our diets. But what effects do these sweeteners have on our health? Only last year, the World Health Organisation categorized the sweetener aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic to humans", yet lots of evidence suggest that sweeteners are beneficial for weight loss and blood sugar control if they replace high sugar intakes. In this episode, I speak with Dr. Jotham Suez who has conducted some ground-breaking research on the effect of non-caloric sweeteners on the gut microbiome and the potential detrimental effects this may have on metabolic health.
The Biomes Podcast is sponsored by Microbiome Insights, who provide end-to-end microbiome research services. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com
06/10/24 • 7 min
Welcome back to Season 3 of Biomes! This season will include some even more fascinating discussions on the latest developments in human microbiome research. Dr. Ruairi Robertson will speak to some of the world’s leading microbiome researchers about everything from artificial sweeteners and the gut microbiome, the vaginal microbiome and gene editing microbiomes. This introductory episode will give a taster of all of the topics that will be discussed in Season 3.
Biomes Season 3 is sponsored by Microbiome Insights (www.microbiomeinsights.com) who provide end-to-end services for everyone looking to include microbiome analyses in their studies.
06/25/24 • 44 min
Ultra-processed foods contain lots of additives to help with their shelf life. Emulsifiers are one type of additive included within many ultra-processed foods such as mayonnaise, chocolate, ice-cream etc. However, new research suggests that these emulsifiers may have a detrimental effect on the gut lining and the gut microbiome.
06/17/24 • 56 min
Humans can survive on human milk for at least the first 6 months of life yet surprisingly little has been researcher about this human superfood. Human milk contains prebiotic sugars, antibodies and live microbes, all of which can influence the gut microbiome of babies. I speak with Dr. Meghan Azad from the University of Manitoba about her research on human milk and the infant gut microbiome.
07/09/24 • 77 min
Even though the microbiome field is very exciting, it is also unfortunately full of plenty of myths and hyperbole. It is important that we discuss these myths. In Episode 6, I speak to the two best Microbiome Myth Busters in the world, who take us through the inaccuracies that are prevalent in discourse about human microbiomes and why these can be detrimental for science and medicine.
05/24/20 • 44 min
Fecal transplants are one of the hottest, if not stomach-curling, topics in the field of the microbiome at the moment. They are extremely successful treatments for recurrent C. Diff infection. In this episode I speak with Dr. Majdi Osman who is the Clinical Programme Director of OpenBiome, a non-profit stool bank whom screen, store and distribute stool samples to hospitals all around the US for fecal transplants. We discuss the background of fecal transplants, the day-to-day difficulties of running a stool-bank and the future of this nauseating treatment for other diseases.
05/17/20 • 44 min
In this episode of Biomes, I speak with Professor Gregor Reid of the the University of Western Ontario and the Lawson Health Research Institute, one of the foremost researchers on probiotics. We discuss his research into UTIs, preterm birth, probiotic controversies and the future of beneficial microbes to fight disease.
05/10/20 • 42 min
Have you ever had a gut feeling? Or butterflies in your stomach? Fascinating evidence now shows us that our intestines and brains and intricately linked through a number of physical and biochemical pathways and that our gut microbes are critical to these interactions.
In this episode of Biomes, I speak with Professor Ted Dinan from University College Cork, one of the pioneers in the field of the gut-brain axis. We talk about the link between stress and infection, the latest knowledge around the vagus nerve and what diet he thinks may be key to gut-brain health.
Enjoy!
03/03/21 • 45 min
Infectious diseases have largely been replaced by chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer in the Western world. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that humans are still at significant risk from microbial-diseases. In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Prof. Brett Finlay from University of British Columbia, one of the world’s leading experts on infectious diseases. Prof. Finlay discusses his career studying infectious microbes and how this led him to shift focus to all of the other microbes in our body. He discusses the influence of the gut microbiome on infection susceptibility, fulfilling Koch’s postulates for the gut microbiome and the influence of early life gut microbes on ‘modern plagues’ such as asthma and allergies.
Prof. Finlay is one of the scientific co-founders of Microbiome Insights along with Dr. Bill Mohn. Between them, they have published more than 600 peer reviewed papers and they provide key scientific guidance to the Microbiome Insights team. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com.
02/24/21 • 40 min
When you hear the phrase ‘gut microbiome’, you most often think about bacteria. However, a huge proportion of your intestinal microbes are viruses, archaea and fungi. These other microbes however, have been studied in much less detail and we know less about what they are doing to your body. In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Dr. Marie Claire Arrietta from University of Calgary, a leading researcher on fungal microbiomes. She discusses how gut fungi interact with the immune system, myths about Candida and how gut fungi may affect children’s lung health.
Microbiome Insights provide services to assess the fungal microbiome using ITS2 sequencing. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com
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FAQ
How many episodes does Biomes have?
Biomes currently has 20 episodes available.
What topics does Biomes cover?
The podcast is about Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Podcasts and Science.
What is the most popular episode on Biomes?
The episode title 'Season 2, Ep. 6: Infection Biomes | Prof. Brett Finlay' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Biomes?
The average episode length on Biomes is 42 minutes.
How often are episodes of Biomes released?
Episodes of Biomes are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Biomes?
The first episode of Biomes was released on May 10, 2020.
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