What Fungi Reveal About Multicellular Life

How did multicellular life evolve? We don’t know! However, fungi are helping us develop ideas about the emergence of complex life. Today we are joined by Dr. William Ratcliff, who has successfully induced naturally unicellular yeast to evolve into multicellular ‘snowflake yeasts’ in his lab at Georgia Tech. Prepare for a delightful interview featuring evolutionary history, biotechnology, semantics, philosophy, and life itself.Dr. William Ratcliff has his Ph.D. in Ecology evolution and Behavior and runs the Ratcliff lab at Georgia Tech and is the Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences.Topics covered:The difference between multicellular life and single cellular lifeWhat is an organism?Evolutionary trends and novelties in multicellular lifeCatalyzing multicellular life in vitro Why yeast— specifically saccharomyces cerevisiae — are so widely used in genomics research and biotechnologyThe Ratcliff Lab’s development of multicellular yeasts dubbed ‘snowflake yeast’Mechanistic basics of multicellular yeasts, particularly entanglementPrototaxites and its characteristics of entanglements Cellular differentiation and cellular suicide in evolving snowflake yeasts Reversing multicellular evolution  Cyanobacteria, Bangiomorpha pubescens and other early forms of multicellular life Ways that multicellularity can be expressedMyxococcus xanthusAcellular slime moldsHow to grow snowflake yeast at home!Show notes:The Ratcliff Lab: https://ratclifflab.biosci.gatech.edu/Grow your own multicellular yeast: http://www.snowflakeyeastlab.com/the%20kit.htmThe Biophysics if nascent multicellularity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WwBiBUcKG4William Ratcliff’s Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wdVRIS0AAAAJ&hl=enSnowflake Yeast Microscopy Photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h7CqrmjId8r50zT6v_1qXoJWMcHa6JJ9?usp=sharingwww.mushroomrevival.comWe are a functional mushroom company and make 100% certified USDA Organic and Vegan mushroom supplements. We are transparent with our lab results, and use actual fruiting bodies aka mushrooms! We provide our supplements in tincture, capsule, powder, and delicious gummy form. Energy (Cordyceps): Need a little pick-me-up before a workout or when you’re picking up your kids from school? The Energy Cordyceps is the mushy match for you.Focus (Lion’s Mane):  Needing a little more focus in your daily life? Lion’s Mane is known to be the mushroom for the brain and may support cognitive function.Calm (Reishi): Looking for some tranquility and zen in your life? Reishi will bring you into the zen state of mind you’ve been searching for.Daily 10 (Mushroom Mix): It’s like having 10 bodyguard mushrooms fighting off all those bad guys. This is a good place to start as it contains all of the daily mushies you need. Not sure where to begin? Take our mushroom quiz here.Use code ‘PODTREAT’ for a 30% discount.