Microbiome links to Parkinson's, and a massive laser boost

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Natural Sciences, Science, Science Radio, Naked Scientists, Health & Fitness, Engineering, Medicine, Technology, Life Sciences

4.6 • 958 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week scientists confirm the link between changes to the microbiome and later development of Parkinson's Disease, a super speedy microfluidic way to diagnose infection and probe antibiotic susceptibility, how many infections does daycare cause in your toddler, and the breakthrough capable of boosting laser power by orders of magnitude... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	All engine running.
0:03.2	Absolutely genius.
0:04.1	Get this.
0:04.8	Welcome.
0:05.9	This is the show where we bring you science.
0:07.7	What that essentially means is...
0:09.2	Discovery is...
0:09.8	Advances.
0:10.8	Research.
0:11.5	Technology.
0:12.4	Unbelievable.
0:13.3	Without further ado, this is the Naked Scientists.
0:17.7	Hello, welcome to this week's Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest
0:22.0	breakthroughs and talks to the major movers and shakers in the worlds of science, technology, and
0:26.9	medicine. With me, Chris Smith. And coming up, can intestinal bacteria lead to Parkinson's disease?
0:33.0	A new study shows consistent changes in the microbiome, even ahead of the diagnosis. Also, two
0:39.2	bouts of diarrhea and a cold every month. Infectious diseases doctors highlight the true cost of
0:44.2	parenthood and a breakthrough that might make lasers orders of magnitude more powerful. But what
0:49.9	will we do with them?
1:06.0	Scientists in London have found that changes to microbes in the gut can identify people who are at greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
1:20.6	The study, which has been published in Nature Medicine, profiled the microbiomes of people with Parkinson's, people at high genetic risk of developing Parkinson's, and members of the general public with some of the early signs that they might be developing the disease.
1:28.4	It suggests that changes to gut microbes might cause, or at least contribute to the disease becoming clinically manifest,
	...

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