Studying a shark-haunted island, and upgrading our microbiomes with engineered bacteria

First up on the podcast, Réunion Island had a shark attack crisis in 2011 and closed its beaches for more than a decade. Former News Intern Alexa Robles-Gil joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how researchers have used that time to study the island’s shark populations and test techniques for preventing attacks, in the hopes of protecting lives and reopening the island’s shores.   Next on the show, engineering gut microbes to break down the precursors of kidney stones. Weston Whitaker, a research scientist at Stanford University, joins the podcast to discuss how he and his team created a stable niche for these useful microbes in the human gut and overcame some of the challenges of controlling them once inside.   This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.   About the Science Podcast   Authors: Sarah Crespi; Alexa Robles-Gil Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices