Swords, cannibalism, poison: inside the world of killer microbes
6/18/202621 min
There is a murderous crime spree happening right under—and perhaps inside—our noses. Killer microbes armed with weapons are eviscerating, assassinating, and detonating their fellow microbes. And the newest culprit? A protist that morphs into a cannibilastic supergiant when times get tough.
Host Flora Lichtman talks with Glen D’Souza and Ben Larson, two detectives who study these micro-murders. They chat about why microbes kill, how they choose their victims, and whether we can harness those weapons for good.
Guests:
Dr. Glen D’Souza is a microbiologist and assistant professor at Arizona State University in Tempe.
Dr. Ben Larson is an assistant professor and cell biologist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] In biological systems, microbe-on-microbe crimes are considered especially heinous. In the science world, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious attacks are members of an elite squad known as microbiologists. These are their stories.
Flora Lichtman· Host0:21
Today, we are turning our attention to the serial killers right under your nose, and perhaps inside of it, microbes armed with weapons to eviscerate, assassinate, and detonate their victims. What turns a microbe murderous? How do they choose their victims? And can we harness their weapons for good? Today we're talking with two biological detectives who've documented this microbe-on-microbe crime, Dr. Glenn D'Souza, an expert on bacterial butchers, AKA cell-to-cell interactions at Arizona State University, and Dr. Ben Larsen, who just described a cannibalistic super microbe in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and studies how cells behave at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Detectives, welcome to Science Friday.
Ben Larsen· Guest1:12
Thanks. I'm excited to be here.
Glenn D'Souza· Guest1:14
Hello, glad to be here.
Flora Lichtman· Host1:15
Should I picture you both in, in fedoras smoking cigarettes looking at a bulletin board with red string? Like, is that your day?
Glenn D'Souza· Guest1:22
Yeah, probably a cigar. [laughs] But not, that's not our lab roles.
Ben Larsen· Guest1:26
[laughs] I think glued to the eyepiece of a microscope