People, Parasites, and Plagues

Parasitoid wasps are some of the most successful organisms on Earth, even if most of us never notice them.
In this episode, Dr. Michael Strand from the UGA Department of Entomology takes us inside the hidden world of parasitoid wasps. These insects lay their eggs in other insects and rely on domesticated viruses to suppress host immune systems and control development. We explore how these virus–wasp partnerships evolved over millions of years, why they have made parasitoid wasps incredibly diverse, and how their biology influences ecosystems and agricultural pest control.
From evolutionary arms races to real-world applications, this episode reveals a biological battle happening all around us, right under our noses.

What if your gut bacteria could become medicine?

In this episode, a UGA microbiologist, Greg Phillips, reveals how engineered probiotic E. coli can produce L-dopa, the frontline treatment for Parkinson’s, directly inside the gut. We explore the gut–brain connection, the power of the microbiome, and how living microbes could become the next generation of drug delivery systems.
From World War I probiotic strains to modern genetic engineering, this episode takes you inside a bold new frontier of microbiome-based medicine.

Dive into the world of chromatin and epigenetics with Dr. Zachary Lewis, an associate professor at the UGA Department of Microbiology. His research explores how chromatin structure and other epigenetic mechanisms shape genome organization, function, and long-term stability in eukaryotic cells. He particularly studies chromatin within fungal pathogens. In this episode, Dr. Lewis breaks down why these molecular systems matter, how they influence fungal disease, and the cutting-edge methods his lab uses to study them.

This episode takes us inside the lab of Dr. Drew Etheridge, an associate professor in the UGA Department of Cellular Biology. He walks us through his scientific path and his current work on endocytosis in Trypanosoma cruzi. This parasite is often overlooked, yet it is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States as it moves north from Central and South America.

Two UGA graduate students take us inside their world of science! Kaelynn Parker (Cellular Biology) and Grace Woods Vick (Infectious Diseases) share what it’s really like working in the lab, traveling abroad, and chasing their passion for research.