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SPEAKER 1
All right, I'm here today with my friend Dennis. Maybe we'll get into our backstory on how we know each other. We're essentially just former colleagues in the lab. And so today for my Holodoxa substack, we're going to do a little conversation. Just introduce you to Dennis and what he does and we'll learn about him.
0:22
He's an interesting guy. And so we'll just jump in. How about you give us a little bit of your backstory, Dennis? Not the whole biography, but tell us a little bit about where you grew up and where you went to school and the essential things.
0:37
SPEAKER 2
Yeah, sure. Totally. Yeah, I can... tell you, I don't know, like a 200 page novel. No, that'd be weird. Oh, both Stetson and I are Cleveland guys. What I realized is that we actually grew up like less than 10 minutes drive from each other. Yeah. So all the trails I go run on are in Bedford reservation.

Enter the Holobiont

An interview with a physician-in-training, research scientist, and podcaster, discussing life and the microbiome.

The idea of the "holobiont” was originally conceived of by a theoretical biologist named Adolf Meyer-Abich but was later independently discovered and popularized by Dr. Lynn Margulis, the heterodox pioneer behind endosymbiont theory, which is the preferred evolutionary explanation for the existence of chloroplasts and mitochondria in plant and animal cells, respectively.

The idea of the holobiont concerns broadening the borders of what we consider a discrete biological unit of life. In other words, what we often think of as a standalone organism is actually a dynamic assemblage of many living things. Those who favor this view of biology, advocate for a broader systems perspective and are often interested in fields of research like microbiomics, the nexus between genomics and microbiology.

My guest today,

, is a third-year medical student with a early but strong background in the study of the microbiome. Dennis is particularly interested in what the study of the tumor microbiome can reveal about cancer and outside-of-the-box treatment approaches. This is both a hot and controversial subject in biomedical research, and Dennis provides a nuanced and passionate perspective on the field.

Book Recommendations from Dennis:

Podcast Recommendations from Dennis:

Links to Dennis’ Podcast and Research

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Exploring ideas that resonate with the intellectually curious. Access to the inner-sanctum on interesting minds.
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