Finding Genius Podcast

Podcast interviews with genius-level (top .1%) practitioners, scientists, researchers, clinicians and professionals in Cancer, 3D Bio Printing, CRISPR-CAS9, Ketogenic Diets, the Microbiome, Extracellular Vesicles, and more. Subscribe today for the latest medical, health and bioscience insights from geniuses in their field(s).

Insights Into Trauma, Mental Health, & Gaslighting: A Conversation With Dr. Deborah Vinall 04/26/2024

Mindful Connections: Exploring The Neuroscience Of Healthy Relationships With Annie Chen 04/25/2024

Intersecting Faiths: Exploring Judaism, Christianity, And More With Expert Biblical Scholars 04/24/2024

Profit Maximization & Tax Optimization: Essential Insights From A Financial Expert 04/23/2024

Science Of Marketing: Unlocking Business Growth With Avi Kumar Of KUWARE Inc. 04/22/2024

Harvesting Dreams in the Heart of a Homestead: The Nightingale Farmstead Journey 04/21/2024

Engineered Efficiency: Optimizing Automobile Engines With Mark Holtzapple 04/20/2024

Evolve & Thrive: Mastering A Continuous Improvement Mindset With Doomberg 04/19/2024

Empowering Youth: Breaking The Stigma Of Teen Social Anxiety With Kyle Mitchell 04/18/2024

Insights From The Frontlines: Navigating Mental Health Crisis With Matthew Moody 04/17/2024

Unlocking Wellness: Understanding The Gut's Role In Health & Happiness With Noelle Patno 04/16/2024

Exploring Fiction, Freedom, And Philosophy With Author John C. A. Manley 04/15/2024

Fortifying Honey Bee Colonies with Researcher Jay Evans 04/14/2024

An Evolutionary Arms Race Between Bees and Viruses: Who Will Win? 04/13/2024

An Evolutionary Arms Race Between Bees and Viruses: Who Will Win? Is it possible to breed a species of bee with total viral immunity? Maybe, and the research being done in Michelle Flenniken’s lab could pave the way for it to happen. Tune in to discover: Whether bees might utilize a form of preventative medicine In what way a honeybee model for insect immunity might be superior to the status quo fruit fly model Why the term “” might be misleading Michelle Flenniken is Assistant Professor in the Plant Sciences Department and Co-Director of the Pollinator Health Center at Montana State University whose primary research is focused not only on understanding the impact of viruses on honeybees, but on the molecular mechanisms that bees have evolved to combat viral infections. Longitudinal monitoring projects looking at the prevalence and abundance of 16 pathogens across several bee colonies over time have led to interesting and useful findings. For instance, Flenniken’s lab has shown that bees that are infected with viruses have perturbation in the genes that are important for metabolic processes, and that even in so-called asymptomatic bees, there are more than a billion copies of RNA viruses per bee. The hypothesis that follows this finding is that this viral load could be energetically taxing on bees—even if the bees appear phenotypically normal. More recent research in Flenniken’s lab has shown that a bee’s immune response is stimulated by double-stranded RNA, which is a molecule that viruses produce when replicating; this molecule stimulates RNA interference in bees—an antiviral mechanism. This has shown to be true also in bumblebees, but is not the case in the fruit fly, which is the go-to model for studying insect immunity. This has opened the door to more exciting and new research that Flenniken and her lab are gearing up to conduct. If antiviral mechanisms in bees can be fully understood, then it may be possible to identify the genes associated with fighting off viral infection, which would make it possible to breed honeybees that are resistant or immune to viral infections. Flenniken discusses the details of all this and more, including viral transmission in bees and across species, whether different castes of bees are differentially impacted by viruses, , and which viruses most commonly impact bees. Check out to learn more. Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30745028

Hopelessly Queenless: Adaptations in the Social Life of Western Honey Bees with Gene Robinson 04/12/2024

Hopelessly Queenless: Adaptations in the Social Life of Western Honey Bees with Gene Robinson are one of the most fascinating and complex social organisms on our planet. Scientists like Gene Robinson research how their genomics play a central role in this behavior and how their environment in turn affects their genes. Listen and learn How the is surprisingly flexible and adaptive to changes in numbers and situations, How the genomics discipline altered scientists' one-directional arrow from gene to behavior to a two-directional model, and What developmental milestones a passes to make it through to full-forager status. Gene Robinson is the director of the Carl R.Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, an institute that practices team science within a multi-disciplinary scheme. He's been studying entomology and different species of bees for over 45 years. In this conversation, he shares some fascinating notes about with listeners. His group in the institute in particular looks at their social behavior mechanisms and evolution from a genomics perspective. Interestingly, he says that studies indicate layers of individuality and adaptability in bee society—not only are they not all "marching to the same orders," they can change behavior depending on what is happening with the colony. In one study, his lab monitored the entry and exit of the hive and found that a minority of the hive worked as foragers. In addition, a small group within the foragers took on a significant 50% of the work. However, when they removed those power-house foragers, the colony did not collapse. Rather, the other bees "upped their foraging game" and made up for the loss. "So while labor is apportioned, it's not fixed and there's flexibility," adds Robinson. He describes other remarkable modes of flexibility, from pheromone releasing and withholding to determine maturity rates to how a hive survives a queen loss. Along the way he explains how the history of genomics has rearranged how biologists look at bee behavior and development from transcriptomic studies. In fact, dramatic changes are evident in bee brain gene activity depending on their rearing conditions. Based on these studies, their genome is very sensitive to the environment. For more, see the and . Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30744108

The Bee’s Needs and Behavior: A Conversation with a Honey Bee Expert 04/11/2024

The Bee’s Needs and Behavior: A Conversation with a Honey Bee Expert “…Their society and community is so complicated, that in fact you cannot really have a straight answer for why something is happening. You need to see it from a global perspective, and look at it from different angles…it’s the complexity that makes it fascinating for me,” says Dr. Fani Hatjina of bees, which have been the subject of her work for her entire professional life. She focuses specifically on social , and joins the show to discuss her current research goals and insights. Press play to discover: What royal jelly is, and how it is used by bees and humans How nectar is converted to honey Why beekeepers and scientists are particularly interested in studying and monitoring beehives during the winter months, and the challenges to doing so How bees carry pollen back to the beehive Dr. Hatjina is Director of the Institute of Animal Science & Department of Apiculture in Greece. After completing her PhD on the pollination behavior of bees, she went on to pursue additional research. Currently, her focus is on finding ways of increasing the resistance of local populations against a primary pest (the varroa mite), searching for alternative methods of controlling disease without chemicals, improving and preserving the local population of honey bees in Greece for the benefit of the species and for , and studying the effects of pesticides and other environmental stressors on bees, such as the presence of heavy metals, and even chemicals that are used by inside bee colonies. Dr. Hatjina explains ‘pollination behavior,’ which includes the way bees move inside the colony and on flowers or crops, how efficiently they transport pollen, and when they transport pollen. The idea is that by gaining a deeper understanding of this behavior, pollination efficiency can be increased. She also comments on the “many gaps in knowledge” when it comes to understanding what triggers the increase of pathogens and bee mortality in winter. Sensors inside or underneath bee colonies are being implemented in order to gain a better idea of the possible variables contributing to it, as well as generate some sort of image of what is going on within a bee hive during winter months. Infrared light can also be used to gather valuable information about the heat generated by the bees, the size of the swarm inside a colony, the position of bees inside a colony, and how these things can change according to the external temperature. Interested in learning more? Tune in for the full conversation and check out Dr. Hatjina’s publications at . Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30744008

Busy Bee Stressors: Tracking Bee Hive Data with William G. Meikle 04/10/2024

Busy Bee Stressors: Tracking Bee Hive Data with William G. Meikle Bees can generate five pounds of honey a day under prime nectar-gathering conditions. Numerous factors make that possible and researchers like William Meikle work on modeling honey bee populations, keeping track of how different stressors might affect health. Listen and learn What measures are important for beehive modeling and why, How bees are able to keep their brood area at a constant warm temperature, and What stressors are being analyzed and why, such as neonicotinoid exposure. Willliam G. Meikle is a research entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture. He studies the colony-level behavior of bees through placing sensors on colonies and monitoring them over long periods of time. This can gather evidence for how they might respond to sub lethal pesticides and other stressors. He's therefore constantly measuring things like hive weight, temperature, CO2, and internal humidity. These measures are akin to numbers from a monitor your doctor might have used to check your health. Various measures might indicate your activity, from sleeping to eating to drinking a cup of coffee. No, bees don't drink coffee, but they do get exposed to neonicotinoids, which are a common type of agriculture insecticide affecting bees. Even at low amounts, he says he can see some sort of impact. Higher levels seem to cause bees to stop foraging, for example. Temperature is another abiotic factor he monitors. Bees have an amazing ability to keep the center area, the brood area, quite warm and constant. Bee social behavior is more than just an inclination. Rather, they work as a superorganism, teaming up and taking turns to use their thoracic muscle movement to warm the center of the hive one by one. A healthy brood is dependent on this constant warmth, and can only happen with successful brood rearing. Listen in for more indications of bee colony health. For more about his work, see the web page. Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30743948

The Four Ps and the Plights Affecting Bees 04/09/2024

The Four Ps and the Plights Affecting Bees Pesticides, poor nutrition, pests, and parasites: these are the four factors influencing bee health around the world, and the amount of information we have about each—how exactly they impact bees, whether each relates to the others, and what can be done about them—is constantly growing. Press play to learn: How a particular fungicide may be altering the bioavailability of a critical micronutrient for bees Where bees are kept during commercial pollination, and how this may be contributing to poor nutrition What indicates health within a bee colony, and what metrics are used to measure the health of a bee colony Priyadarshini Chakrabarti Basu is a postdoctoral research associate at Oregon State University Honey Bee Lab, and for over a decade now, she’s been studying environmental impacts on bee populations. Basu’s current work focuses on two specific areas within this field of research: pesticides and poor nutrition. She’s not only investigating each individually, but exploring the ways in which they may be interconnected. When it comes to nutrition, she explains that most research to date has looked into the macronutrients required by bees, which are primarily carbohydrates and proteins. Only recently have a couple of research groups—including hers—put their focus on the importance of micronutrients required by bees. Phytosterols are a group of molecules similar to cholesterol that are a required micronutrient for bees, as they fulfill several functions, including the production of important hormones and the maintenance of cell membrane integrity. Bees source phytosterols naturally from plant pollens, so Basu and the OSU Honey Bee Lab team is trying to collect as many types of pollen as possible in order to look at the phytosterol spectrum available to bees, and determine how they might be able to add this critical micronutrient to the diet of bees that are lacking it. Basu is also involved in a project which is being carried out in collaboration with growers and beekeepers with the goal of following hives across multiple cropping systems in order to evaluate colony health and growth, as well as assess individual bee physiology. The ins and outs of the research being done at the OSU Honey Bee Lab are brought to light in today’s episode, along with many other informative and interesting aspects of bee health, types of apiculture (beekeeping), commercial crop production, methods of pollination (including cross-pollination and self-pollination), and more. Tune in and visit . Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30743868

Rethinking Public Health Strategies: Reflecting On The Global Pandemic With Dr. Martin Kulldorff 04/08/2024

Eyes Wide Open: Exploring the Connection Between Vision, Art, & Science With Dr. Michael Marmor 04/07/2024

Unlocking the Nutritional Keys to Better Brain Health: A Journey with Dr. Bonnie J. Kaplan 04/06/2024

Unveiling The Origins Of Life: Diving Into NASA's New Frontier In Space Exploration 04/05/2024

Battling Biohazards: Diving Into Thomas Licker's Cleanup Crusade 04/04/2024

Exploring Venus: Unraveling Planetary Mysteries With Dr. Erika Kohler 04/03/2024

Changing The Schizophrenia Narrative: Taking A Journey Into Holistic Healing & Trauma-Informed Care 04/02/2024

AI And Ethics: Exploring The Intricacies Of Technology, Morality, & Human Experience With Joan Cohen 04/01/2024

Bee Happy: Maximizing Honey Bee Characteristics for Healthy Bees with Juliana Rangel Posada 03/31/2024

Bee Happy: Maximizing Honey Bee Characteristics for Healthy Bees with Juliana Rangel Posada The queen bee has to get it right when she mates, because she only has one intense mating session for the duration of her life. The queen bee's anatomy and work together for success and Julian Rangel Posada tells listeners how. Listen and learn Why the queen flies a mile away to mate as well as other interesting details of honey bee social behavior, What the exact mechanics of honey bee mating are and why drones are "expensive" to maintain, and What she's researching about pollen choice and lipid-to-protein ratios that help bees maintain health and improve recovery from viruses they contract from types of mites. Juliana Rangel Posada is an associate professor of apiculture in the Department of Entomology and leads the Texas A&M University Honey Bee Research Program. She studies biotic and abiotic factors affecting bee health. The number one problem for honey bees is the varroa mite, and she starts the conversation addressing how her lab showed that the chemicals used to treat the mites actually affects both the mites and bees. The wax that makes up the honey comb absorbs the chemicals like a sponge, and bees grow and develop within this wax home, absorbing the chemicals. The chemical buildup causes queens to develop lower reproductive capacity and also affects drone sperm and viability. She shares various ways they advise beekeepers to mitigate this affect, including clearing out the wax every few years. She also describes for listeners a detailed and fascinating description of honey bee matting, one of several evolved to increase genetic diversity and reproductive success. She explains the harsh life of the drone, reared for mating and killed off quickly after they've done their job. She also describes the drone's endophallus and how a queen manages multiple mates and their sperm by taking in this organ. The next mate removes the endophallus of the previous one and so on, until she has sperm from multiple mates to continue producing eggs for years. In addition to reproductive studies, her lab is researching foraging behavior and nutrition to see if honey bees are using certain pollens with various ratios of lipid-to-proteins that affect their survivability. For more, see her lab's Facebook page, , which includes a "stay-at-home beekeeping series." Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30592173

Minding Your Bees with Expert Qs and As 03/30/2024

Minding Your Bees with Expert Qs and As From smelly footprints and dances to furry coats and long tongues, Professor Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex talks about it all. We often refer to “bees” as though there’s only one kind, but in fact, over 20,000 species of bee have been identified. Goulson shares fascinating data and insights primarily on two: the . Press play to discover: How bumblebees and honeybees differ (in many, many ways!) What two critical pieces of information are conveyed by the waggle dance of honeybees What sensing ability of bees explains why a bee may or may not choose to land on a flower for pollen or nectar Goulson’s lifelong captivation by insects led to a fascination of bees in his adult life, and for the past 25 years, he’s been studying them. Initially, the focus of his research was on the foraging strategies of different species of bee, but it’s since shifted to an investigation of why bee populations are declining, and what can be done about it. As a specialist in the ecology and conservation of bumblebees, Goulson discusses what he believes to be the primary driving force behind the declining numbers: habitat loss, such as hay meadows in the UK and prairie fields in North America. But he’s careful to note that other factors are likely at play too, including the heavy use of pesticides, and the fact that bumblebees suffer from a range of parasites and diseases. What do bumblebees eat, and which nutrients are provided by pollen versus nectar? How can seemingly strange actually make a whole lot of evolutionary sense? How can you differentiate between a male and female bee? What exactly happens when a bee pollinates a flower? What types of technology are used for tracking and gathering data on bees? You’ll get a compelling and thorough answer to all of these questions and more. Tune in and check out . Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30592108

Honey Bee Sperm and Reproductive Bee Anatomy with Brandon Hopkins 03/29/2024

Honey Bee Sperm and Reproductive Bee Anatomy with Brandon Hopkins One in every three bites you take are made possible by honey bee pollination. Keeping bees healthy and productive is essential. Honey bee reproduction depends on a queen's ability to have one mating session, store sperm for years, and lay about 1,000 eggs a day during the warmer months: an amazing among many. Brandon Hopkins shares fascinating in this discussion. Listen and learn How a queen's anatomy and sperm morphology work to make this reproduction effective, What storage methods are best for honey bees to make the large almond yield in California possible, and How these storage methods also work best to deter certain types of mites from overtaking colonies. Brandon Hopkins is an assistant research professor and the apiary and laboratory manager with the Washington State University Apiary Program. Studying reproductive biology across different animals led him to a honey bee obsession. "They're fascinating creatures and present lots of room for improvement in assisted reproductive techniques in honey bee breeding," he says. He gives listeners a primer on and reproduction, describing the sperm, the queen's spermatheca organ, which stores the sperm in a quiescence state over years, and the complex ability of the queen to continue laying eggs by releasing the sperm through a tube. He also gives us a glimpse into how this works over our geography. While he's worked on methods of cryopreservation of honey bee semen, he's now mainly focusing on practical aspects of beekeeping management. Over two million honey bee colonies have to be moved to California in January for February almond pollination, so the storage and transport of bees is a vital topic for research. Many beekeepers store their bees that will go to California in large warehouse-like buildings for the winter. He explains why this is an advantage, from saving their energy production to keeping mites and bee interaction at a lower state, and for a better quality of life for the keepers themselves. Listen in to understand more about the ways researchers like Brandon Hopkins are keeping bees healthy. For more about his work, see . Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30592053

Bee Space: Honey Bee Social Behavior with Cameron Jack 03/28/2024

Bee Space: Honey Bee Social Behavior with Cameron Jack Bee keeping is an ancient practice: even prehistoric cave paintings in Spain depict a keeper reaching for a hive to collect honey while holding a smoker to calm the bees. Cameron Jack shares some of the more interesting details of this ancient art with lucky listeners. Tune in and hear How , , and evolution have led to optimal frame and hive size for beekeepers to follow, Why bees are considered a superorganism, which means a honey bee can't survive on its own, and is organized by queen, brooders, and workers, and Why Cameron Jack's prime interest is managing honey bee diseases and pests and what are the main areas of concern. Cameron Jack holds the unusual position of one-hundred percent lecturer at the University of Florida. He's still involved in research and extension work, but his full lecturer designation means his beekeeping course list at the University of Florida is probably the most extensive college-level beekeeping instruction out there. He teaches seven different beekeeping courses, covering everything from evolution, biology, the annual cycle involved in beekeeping, and more. The courses are complete enough to turn out people who can actively be beekeepers. In this interview, he describes everything from why 3/8 inches is a magic number to how bees find and maintain hives in the wild. of course take center stage. For hive building, beekeepers who want to maximize honey production must learn such behaviors to know why they might, for example, sequester the queen in the lower level. Bees build their combs vertically and are considered a superorganism—"the whole animal is the whole colony," he adds. They are able to determine their hive sizing in multiple ways and if it gets too big, they swarm—one colony becomes two. Furthermore, the queen designation doesn't mean ruler. She's a producer, laying as many eggs as she can in a systematic spiral through her level of the comb. Cameron Jack's primary interest is the management of pests and diseases bees face like types of mites, beetles, and even wax-eating moths. While the interaction of mites and bees is the most concerning, diseases even involve microorganisms in honey bees' guts. Listen in to hear more about this amazing superorganism. For more see the page. Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: /episode/index/show/findinggeniuspodcast/id/30576243

Finding Genius Podcast

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