Special Episode - Awakening the Temperate Beast

Ananya Jain from the University of Ottawa interviews Dr Adam Rudner about advances in temperate bacteriophage research. Dr. Rudner is a researcher and associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa. He also co-leads the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) associated bacteriophage discovery lab for students in the Translational and Molecular Medicine Program at the University of Ottawa. In this episode, Dr. Rudner discusses bacteriophage basics, the current state of bacteriophage therapy, and how temperate bacteriophages could be harnessed in the future of bacteriophage therapy. Dr Rudner also highlights novel discoveries in the field of temperate bacteriophage biology by discussing his own lab's discovery of a new lysogeny mechanism and discussing the work of Dr. Alex Hynes, a researcher and associate professor at McMaster University, who discovered temperate phage antibiotic synergy (tPAS).Learn more: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-medicine/directory/dr-adam-rudner0:00 | Introduction to the Podcast0:29 | Introduction to Dr. Adam Rudner1:16 | What inspired Dr. Rudner to pursue bacteriophage research2:23 | The differences between lytic and lysogenic bacteriophages3:26 | The importance of researching bacteriophages and their therapeutic potential4:57 | Discussing the work of Dr. Alex Hynes and his discovery of temperate phage antibiotic synergy (tPAS)7:12 | Advancements required to implement temperate phages and tPAS in therapeutics8:25 | The discovery of a novel lysogeny mechanism by Dr. Rudner's lab13:50 | Key Takeaways14:27 | Concluding RemarksSoundtrack by The Underground Drive. All rights reserved. Listen more:https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/the-underground-drive/1571062779https://open.spotify.com/artist/4sCJG8TMQyTZ9FDd1JjJmRAnanya Jain (Host), Rebecca Santhosh Babu (Writer), Mirabel Joseph (Social Media Coordinator), Amber Morton (Producer)