Fungal infections are far more wide spread that we all think. The biggest challenge here is the proper diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these infections. I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Andrej Spec, an infectious disease specialist at the Washington University School of Medicine. Here he talks about what he does, the kinds of infections he encounters and what the biggest challenges are for the field. Read also a piece I wrote in 2016 about general fungal infections and how they impact plants, wild life and human beings. © Sheba AJ , Andrej Spec This work is licensed…

The brain gut connection has never been clearer. We have known for a long long time that we are covered in bacteria inside and out, to the count of 10 – 100 trillion indigenous microbial cells living in symbiosis. Until recently however, the actual identity of the species of bacteria that inhabit us was unknown. With the advent of advanced molecular biology techniques, like 16S RNA sequencing (at a much lower cost and very high speeds), we now know not only what lives in and on us, but also the differences between different body sites, different individuals, and also between…