Jonathan Eisen
Description: Jonathan Eisen is a professor at UC Davis with appointments in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and the Genome Center. His research spans across many different areas within microbiology as he aims to uncover “rules” that can be widely applied across the field. His current lab projects include research on the microbiology of the built environment, genomics and evolution of microbial pathogens, and the seagrass microbe project . Outside of academia Professor Eisen is the author of the Tree of Life blog and maintains a large social media presence on Twitter. This is a part of his goal to improve communication and access to academic information. In this episode we talk about microbes, their role and our relationship with them, open sourcing academia, and the need to provide more equity and diversity in academia
Websites: Jonathan Eisen's Lab // Twitter // Instagram // iNaturalist // Photos // Linktree
Publications:
Marine probiotics: increasing coral resistance to bleaching through microbiome manipulation
A microbial survey of the International Space Station (ISS)
Book Recommendation:
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Resources:
His Episode on the Tim Ferris Show
Show Notes:
[01:35] Intro background into his study of microbiology
[06:20] What are microbes
[07:32] Why do people need to care about microbes
[10:31] Academic freedom through comparative biology
[13:21] Challenges of comparative research
[17:22] What does it take to be a model organism
[20:14] Potential application of CRISP on Microbes
[23:50] Covid Vaccine
[26:34] Explanation of gut microbiome
[34:24] Probiotic companies
[39:12] Supporting your microbiome
[41:11] Hygiene hypothesis
[42:09] Are we too sterile
[44:13] Covid/ Gain of Function/ Lab leak theory
[50:44] Journal Publishing Process/Efforts for Open Sourcing
[56:12] Why he is passionate about Open-Sourcing Academic Information
[1:03:00] Any pushback on Open Sourcing/ How students can support
[1:05:07] Need for good communication of academic topics
[1:09:30] Issue of Gender Diversity in Academic Conferences
[1:18:15] When has he failed
[1:22:11] Taking accountability for being wrong
[1:24:22] What bird would you be and why