Sarkis Mazmanian is a professor at California Institute of Technology who studies how the gut microbiome influences the development and function of the nervous system, the “Gut-Brain Axis”. Dr. Mazmanian has discovered that the microbiome influences the development of Parkinson’s Disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease caused by the loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain that affects motor function. Dr. Mazmanian talks about the evidence that the gut microbiome influences PD, implications of this research for the diagnosis and treatment of PD, the involvement of the microbiome in other neurological conditions, and people freezing away their poop for fecal transplants. The MicroCase for listeners to solve is about Mortimer Dinglehopper, a retired oil tycoon who becomes dangerously ill after his ritual nighttime dessert. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Sarkis Mazmanian, Ph.D. (California Institute of Technology) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Carlos Paladini, Ph.D. (UTSA) Carlos Paladini, Ph.D. (UTSA)