Latest Transcript Podcast Episodes
The Megadata of Lake Mendota - Part 3: Boating Out to David Buoy
Genome Insider - December 21, 2023 12:00 - 24 minutesThis is the third and final episode of our series on a giant metagenome assembly from Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota. In the last two episodes, we’ve covered the specialized software and supercomputers behind this project. But every part of this project depends on lakewater samples — so this episode i...
The Megadata of Lake Mendota - Part 2: Souped Up Computing
Genome Insider - December 07, 2023 12:00 - 22 minutesThis series is the story of a giant metagenome assembly from Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota. In this episode: a look at the supercomputing that stitches together large datasets with the assembler program MetaHipMer2. Oak Ridge National Lab is home to two supercomputers — Summit and Frontier — that pr...
The Megadata of Lake Mendota - Part 1: Many, Many Mers
Genome Insider - November 21, 2023 19:00 - 26 minutesLake Mendota sits right next to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. And Trina McMahon's lab has been sampling the microbes of that lake for over 20 years, to understand how the freshwater ecosystem works. So a few years ago, when they set out to analyze 500 metagenomes, it was the biggest pr...
Experimenting with EcoFABs for Student Labs - Jill Bouchard & Ying Wang
Genome Insider - November 09, 2023 12:00 - 22 minutesTo set up flexible, repeatable experiments on plants and microbes, Trent Northen’s group at Berkeley Lab created a fabricated ecosystem – an EcoFAB. These small plastic growth chambers let researchers around the world compare their work consistently. And EcoFABs also work well in the classroom. ...
JGIota: A Surprise for Chloroflexota — The First Flagella!
Genome Insider - October 19, 2023 11:00 - 8 minutesTo understand how organisms adapt to extreme environments, Marike Palmer and Brian Hedlund study organisms living in hot springs. Hear how their recent work revealed more about the history of the Chloroflexota phylum and a new way of moving: a tail-like flagella. Submit your own proposal to wo...
JGIota: A Tool to Find the Nomadic Genes that Help Microbes Adapt - geNomad
Genome Insider - September 20, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutesA quick snippet on Antonio Camargo and Simon Roux, a few of the JGI researchers behind software that finds plasmids and viruses within microbial genomes. As mobile genetic elements like viruses spread their DNA, they can affect how microbes cycle nutrients and adapt to climate change. Episode T...
Methane Makers in Yosemite's Lakes - Mike Beman and Elisabet Perez Coronel
Genome Insider - June 29, 2023 11:00 - 27 minutesMeet researchers who have hiked, rafted and met local wildlife (a marmot!) as they’ve sampled the microbial communities living in the mountaintop lakes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These lakes are isolated, but varied. They’re a great way to see how climate change affects freshwater ecosystem...
A Shrubbier Version of Rubber - Andrew Nelson and Colleen McMahan
Genome Insider - June 22, 2023 11:00 - 20 minutesRight now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule. This episode was mad...
The Busy World of Deep Sea Eruptions - Anna-Louise Reysenbach and Emily St. John
Genome Insider - June 15, 2023 11:00 - 30 minutesThe ocean depths are vast and dark. But there are hotspots on the ocean floor — underwater volcanoes and hydrothermal vents — where lively microbial communities thrive, and even support entire ecosystems. Hear from researchers Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Emily St. John, Gilberto Flores, and Peter Gi...
Crops as Tough as World Cup Turf - James Schnable and Guangchao Sun
Genome Insider - June 08, 2023 12:00 - 28 minutesIn our warming world, we’ll need corn, sorghum and other crops to grow well in worse conditions: with more heat, less water and less fertilizer. Grasses do better in these conditions, so plant biologists James Schable, Guangchao Sun and Vladimir Torrres have looked into traits that could transfe...
Season 4 Trailer (and sneak peek!)
Genome Insider - June 06, 2023 23:00 - 3 minutesOn June 8th, Genome Insider is back! We've got a batch of 4 new episodes where researchers discover the expertise encoded in our environment — in the genomes of plants, fungi, bacteria, archaea, algae, and environmental viruses — to power a more sustainable future. Stick around for a snippet ...
JGIota: A Biofuel Breakthrough in Anaerobic Fungi with Michelle O'Malley and Tom Lankiewicz
Genome Insider - March 30, 2023 23:00 - 4 minutesMichelle O'Malley and Tom Lankiewicz of UC-Santa Barbara discuss the importance of studying anaerobic fungi, as well as a recent discovery that turns scientific presumption on its head and opens up a new avenue to explore for efficient biofuel production. Episode Transcript Publication: Lankie...
JGIota: Sequencing Shiitakes with David Hibbett
Genome Insider - March 02, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutesDavid Hibbett (Clark University) fills us in on the kind of decay that makes shiitake mushrooms special. This week, he 39 collaborators published a paper tracing how these mushrooms have evolved. Episode Transcript Publication: Sierra-Patev S et al. A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiita...
Work With the JGI! Tips for a Winning CSP Proposal
Genome Insider - December 16, 2022 01:00 - 30 minutesThe JGI’s Community Science Program gives researchers access to all kinds of sequencing, ‘omics and bioinformatics capabilities — and it’s open to scientists at any career stage, anywhere in the world, for free. We accept new projects related to energy and the environment several times a year. A...
JGIota: Looking Back at How Cow Rumen Samples Landed on a Syllabus
Genome Insider - November 17, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutesBack in 2011, JGI-supported researchers published a paper in the journal Science. They’d used metagenomics to sift for microbial genes encoding carbohydrate-chomping enzymes in cow rumen — and found 27,000 candidates. The data from that study is now used across California State University campus...
From Sample Shipments to Sequences – A Tour of the JGI’s Sequencing Pipeline
Genome Insider - November 03, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutesEvery year, the JGI sequences around 35,000 samples — from plants, algae, bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses — to support scientists around the world. Most of those researchers send their samples in from afar, without ever hearing much about the sequencing lab. So today, Chris Daum walks through ...
JGIota: Looking Back at Methane-Making Microbes
Genome Insider - October 06, 2022 17:00 - 7 minutesWe count on livestock for food and fiber, but raising these animals also produces an atmosphere-warming gas: methane. Those emissions mainly come from gut microbes — the bacteria and archaea breaking down plant matter. So since 2010, the JGI has supported researchers studying those microbial met...
The Fungi That Survive In Antarctica
Genome Insider - September 22, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutesBlack fungi are microscopic and mighty. They survive everywhere from Antarctica to Joshua Tree National Park, despite extremely harsh conditions. And their survival secrets could one day help other organisms survive hotter, drier climates. So University of Tuscia researchers Laura Selbmann and C...
JGIota: Looking Back at Sequencing for Soybeans
Genome Insider - September 15, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutesThe soybean is a crop that could boost biofuels and fertilize fields. So in 2010, the JGI helped publish the original genome sequence for the soybean, Glycine max. With a full genome sequence, researchers have been able to look into soybean’s strengths – along with a fungus that threatens this i...
JGIota: Looking Back at Soybeans
Genome Insider - September 15, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutesThe soybean is a crop that could boost biofuels and fertilize fields. So in 2010, the JGI helped publish the original genome sequence for the soybean, Glycine max. With a full genome sequence, researchers have been able to look into soybean’s strengths – along with a fungus that threatens this i...
Better Crops With a Pointillist Approach to Plant Genomics
Genome Insider - August 25, 2022 13:00 - 18 minutesIn this episode, we peer into plant cells. Researchers are using measurements from single cells to understand which genes help plants grow, get nutrients, weather drought, and more. And eventually, their findings could help us grow better crops, with less impact on our planet. Links from this e...
JGIota: The Algae Nicknamed ‘Chlamy’
Genome Insider - August 11, 2022 16:00 - 6 minutesThis shorter episode is about a tiny, single-celled alga – Chlamydomonas reinhardtii – that’s managed to have a big impact. UC Berkeley plant biologist Sabeeha Merchant explains why she works on this alga, how researchers managed to sequence its genome, and what it has to teach us about other or...
JGIota: The Algae Nicknamed ‘Chlamy’
Genome Insider - August 11, 2022 16:00 - 6 minutesThis shorter episode is about a tiny, single-celled alga – Chlamydomonas reinhardtii – that’s managed to have a big impact. UC Berkeley plant biologist Sabeeha Merchant explains why she works on this alga, how researchers managed to sequence its genome, and what it has to teach us about other or...
Chomping Toward Better Plastic Recycling
Genome Insider - July 28, 2022 16:00 - 21 minutesWe know all kinds of things about plastic – except, how to break it down for recycling. But some hungry insects can digest plastic. So researchers are taking a look at how these critters process plastic, to improve plastic recycling by following their lead. Episode Transcript Links from this ...
Filling in the Plant Tree of Life
Genome Insider - February 08, 2022 17:00 - 22 minutesWhat if we understood plants and how they adapt to their ever-changing environments better? We could unlock new innovations to drive more productive food, medicine, and bioenergy crops. But most available genomes are from narrow swaths of the plant tree of life. One project aims to change that. ...
Creating an Energy Market for Miscanthus
Genome Insider - November 23, 2021 17:00 - 22 minutesWhat grass is a prized ornamental and a bioenergy plant? Meet Miscanthus, an attractive addition to your garden and a potential fuel for the future. But, to be competitive in the market, both energy policy and Miscanthus will need some upgrades. In this episode, hear from scientists working on u...
Dispatches From JGI Interns
Genome Insider - October 19, 2021 16:00 - 23 minutesEvery summer, the JGI invites undergraduate and graduate students from the University of California, Merced to participate in the flagship JGI-UC Merced Internship Program and engage in real, impactful research projects with JGI mentors. In this episode, hear two interns from the 2021 cohort des...
THE Bioenergy Tree
Genome Insider - September 14, 2021 15:00 - 25 minutesThe US Department of Energy’s favorite tree is poplar. They’re the fastest growing trees in the Northern Hemisphere, making them tantalizing plants to harness for bioenergy. In this episode, hear from Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists who have uncovered remarkable genetic secrets that bri...
Back to the Future! A Sorghum Story
Genome Insider - August 10, 2021 16:00 - 22 minutesYou might know sorghum as an edible grain. But there are some sorghum varieties, grown on marginal land with little water, which were developed specifically to turn their biomass into sustainable biofuel and bioproducts. John Mullet, a biologist at Texas A&M University, tells us how sorghum’s hi...
A Powerful Technique to Study Microbes, Now Easier
Genome Insider - June 08, 2021 15:00 - 9 minutesLawrence Livermore National Lab biologist Jennifer Pett-Ridge collaborated with JGI scientists on an ambitious project: to bring in robots to help process experiments that measure microbial activity in soil. Now, the researchers and robots have made these experiments easier for scientists everyw...