Speaking of Mol Bio

Most scientists start their education and careers with a vision of working in the lab to discover great things and drive innovation. However, we don’t all end up loving the actual lab work portion of science. What non-lab career options exist to utilize molecular biology knowledge and skills? Well, according to our guest, Jason Amsbaugh, Founder and CEO of Samba Scientific, the career options are far more plentiful than you may think.

Scientific marketing, according to Jason, is one such role that is all about understanding the science, first and foremost, but it’s also about effective communication. Essentially, he and his team have to balance technical knowledge with creativity to understand a wide variety of client products and services, uncover the core benefits of those products and services, and then develop marketing content that holds water when put in front of scientists who are, according to Jason, “skeptical” by nature.

Our conversation covers Jason’s own career path, current trending technologies, the use of AI in both science and marketing, ethics in scientific marketing, and more. If you’ve ever wondered about what roles exist outside of the lab and how to move your career in that direction, this episode is for you. If you’re happy in your lab-based career but want to have a bit more faith in those selling you the products you use, this episode is also for you!

Visit our virtual lab: www.thermofisher.com//molbiovirtuallab

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

When you buy chicken or turkey from the grocery store, you might not give it much thought, but there is an entire network of people working to ensure the health of the animals in our food supply chain and your health. In this episode, we talk with an unsung hero, Beverly Wood, supervisor of the molecular diagnostics lab at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, who works tirelessly to ensure the health and safety of poultry and livestock animals in our food supply chain.

Our conversation delves into the types of samples and volume of testing that Beverly and her team do on a routine basis uncovers how their work changes as they move between surveillance and outbreak modes of operation, and gets into the molecular testing workflows they use. Given that her lab analyzes more than 30,000 samples a year, the discussion also touches on advancements in sample preparation and PCR that help enable this level of throughput, while delivering the rigor and reliability their lab requires.

Join us to learn about the unsung heroes, both people and molecular methods, that deliver food health and safety.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

We start the second season of this series with an update on what you can expect from new episodes, which start to drop soon.

Your host, Steve Lewis, shares details on changes you can expect as the series evolves. One change will be a broadening of application topics to be covered, as this season will include episodes discussing transcriptomics in biopharma, the use of molecular biology by CROs, brewing, food testing, food production, biosecurity, and non-bench careers that use molecular biology. Steve reassures that all episodes, however, are squarely focused on the role that molecular biology plays in driving the innovative work of each guest forward.

Get ready for some great conversations coming your way soon, and don’t forget to catch up on any missed episodes from last season!

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

In this episode, the hosts have an intriguing discussion with Dr. Ben Sun, Head of Biomarker Genetics at Biogen. Dr. Sun holds an MD/PhD from the University of Cambridge, providing a view and perspective on data from both research and clinical perspectives. The advantage of his unique background is that it provides a balanced perspective on large-scale population data and genomic data sets used to train computational models for predicting and informing clinical treatment. The conversation touches on the fundamental science as well as the integration of in silico, in vitro, and in vivo methods. Ben also shares insights on decision-making is different in research vs. clinical spaces and on the types of variations that can make it challenging to train and confidently use AI in healthcare.

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For full access to the video and transcripts, please visit our Thermofisher page directly at https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/global/forms/life-science/subscribe-speaking-mol-bio-podcast.html

In the meantime, we hope you’ll share our podcast with a friend or colleague that might enjoy it. And as you progress in your own work, we hope you’ll visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology (https://thermofisher.com/ISMB) where you can access molecular biology resources to help you achieve your goals.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

The history of fermented foods like beer, bread, and other foods can be traced back thousands of years to ancient civilizations in China and Egypt. This ancient technology was originally used to preserve foods when refrigeration was not an option. While less common in modern industrialized civilizations, we’re now realizing that fermented foods play a major role in gut microbiome diversity, which is a biomarker for overall health.

Join our conversation with Dr. John Leech, Technologist at Teagasc in County Cork, Ireland to learn all about the history and how cutting-edge technologies are being applied to research in food fermentation. John shares his story of how he found this field of research and how he’s now headlong into striving to understand and harness the power of fermented foods. We learn about the complex microbial communities that define and deliver the health benefits of these foods, but we also hear about how this biological complexity makes them inherently irreproducible.

Foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, tepache, milk kefir, and water kefir are produced from fermentation, facilitated by complex communities of microbes. Consumption of fermented foods can alter our gut microbiome, which has been shown to affect obesity, inflammation, longevity, and efficacy of drug treatments. John and his team are using qPCR, NGS, and other methods to characterize the microbial consortia used to produce these foods. They’re now working to figure out how to simplify the consortium while still delivering health benefits, all while making the process reproducible and scalable

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.