Episdoe 123: The Borgs in Your Backyard
Guest: Basem Al-Shayeb \nSpecial Co-Host: Elise Cutts \n\nScientists recently announced the discovery of Borgs (yes, Borgs), which they describe as giant genetic elements that assimilate DNA from their archaeal hosts. We speak to the lead author of the Borg paper\u2014UC Berkeley graduate student Basem Al-Shayeb\u2014about finding the Borgs, their global implications, and, of course, the story behind their naming.\n\nBasem's paper, "Borgs are giant extrachromosomal elements with the potential to augment methane oxidation": https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.10.451761v1\n\nTwo recent science news articles by Elise:\n"Desert Life Conjures Organic Carbon from Thin Air" in EOS: https://eos.org/articles/desert-life-conjures-organic-carbon-from-thin-air\n"Missing Antarctic microbes raise thorny questions about the search for aliens" in Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/antarctica-microbes-habitability-aliens-extraterrestrial\n\nFollow us on Twitter!\nMike: https://twitter.com/Miquai\nBasem: https://twitter.com/themicrobeguy\nElise: https://twitter.com/elisecutts