A podcast bringing you the stories behind news-worthy molecular biology research. From The Scientist‘s Creative Services Team.
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Catch Me If You Can: Sequencing Screens for Rare Disease Genes
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Rare diseases often remain undiagnosed due to unknown etiologies. In recent years, researchers have made headway in characterizing the molecular causes of rare diseases thanks to progressively powerful sequencing technologies, such as whole genome and exome sequencing. In this episode, Deanna MacNeil from The Scientist spoke with medical geneticist…
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Building miniature brains may sound like a page out of a science fiction novel, but fact is indeed stranger than fiction. Researchers around the world grow brain organoids—3D miniature brains—to better understand brain development, aging, injury, and other disorders, as well as to test new treatment strategies. Some scientists take brain building t…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Shifting Parturition Perspectives in Perinatology Research
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As a maternal-fetal immunologist at the Washington University School of Medicine, Nardhy Gómez-López investigates the immunobiological pathways that underlie pregnancy complications. Having trained and researched across the globe alongside caring and curious physicians, Gómez-López became hooked on perinatal immunology research. Motivated to help s…
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Understanding the Effects of Extrachromosomal DNA on Cancer
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In the 1960s, researchers in England noticed an anomaly when investigating chromosomes from surgically removed human tumors. Distinct from the intact chromosomes visible underneath the microscope were numerous “very small double chromatin bodies,” which are today better known as extrachromosomal DNA. Thanks to modern sequencing and imaging techniqu…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Understanding the Symphony of Human Brain Development
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As the Golub Family Professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, Paola Arlotta seeks to understand how the human brain is formed and what makes it unique. After being inspired by her high school science teacher, Antonio Vecchia, Arlotta pursued a research path that led to her current work exploring the cerebral cortex by g…
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Explainable AI for Rational Antibiotic Discovery
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Researchers now employ artificial intelligence (AI) models based on deep learning to make functional predictions about big datasets. While the concepts behind these networks are well established, their inner workings are often invisible to the user. The emerging area of explainable AI (xAI) provides model interpretation techniques that empower life…
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Natural Trip: Endogenous Psychedelics and Human Physiology
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The field of psychedelics research has exploded in recent years, as scientists dig deeper into the neuroscience and pharmacology of hallucinogens and how their unique properties can be harnessed to understand and treat depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and neurodegenerative diseases. Remarkably, the…
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Every cell within the human body contains the same DNA, but not all cells look and act alike. The key to cellular diversity lies in which genes the cells express or shut down. Cells convey this information to the appropriate machinery through epigenetic modifications. In this episode, Charlene Lancaster from The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Weissm…
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Virtual Laboratories for Remote Benchwork and Breakthroughs
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Cloud-based systems enable remote science experiments, allowing researchers to accomplish experimental breakthroughs from virtually any location with computer access. Remote labs and cloud-connected instruments are revolutionizing the way researchers approach benchwork, improving scientific discovery and education by enabling accessible and automat…
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Researchers apply the principles of synthetic biology to address some of the most pressing human health challenges. In what some consider a science and an artform, scientists use bacterial components in creative ways to create synthetic cells for cancer research. In this episode, Iris Kulbatski from The Scientist’s Creative Services Team spoke with…
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Smart Gateways into the Lab of the Future
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As bioengineers incorporate smart technology into more aspects of the scientific process, these updates promise to digitize and automate laborious, repetitive research tasks while simultaneously transforming the laboratory into a more accessible and connected environment. This episode highlights cutting-edge smart technologies that allow scientists…
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Fecal Microbiota Transplants: From Gut Infections to Psychiatric Disorders
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23:53
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Fecal transplantation is an established procedure for controlling recurrent Clostridium difficile infection by replenishing healthy bacteria in the gut. Researchers explore novel applications of fecal transplantation for treating other conditions, including psychiatric disorders. In this episode, Iris Kulbatski from The Scientist’s Creative Service…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Starting with Human Cell Systems
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Xitiz Chamling is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From vision research to the pursuit of multiple sclerosis treatments, his philosophy of science centers human-based systems to study the neuroprotective layer called myelin, which surrounds and insulates nerves cells. In this episode, Deanna Ma…
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Disease-relevant molecules that cannot be pharmacologically targeted are sometimes referred to as undruggable, and in cancer, a number of proteins fall into this category. With innovation and new technologies, researchers make breakthroughs that turn evasive targets into druggable ones. Recent successes in establishing therapeutics against mutant o…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Relevant Models Reflect Real-World Needs
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Jie Sun is a professor in Infectious Diseases and International Medicine at University of Virginia School of Medicine and associate director for Scientific Programs at the Carter Immunology Center. His philosophy of science prioritizes physiologically relevant infection models to tackle real-world clinical needs with research. In their latest work,…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Targeting a Genetic Accident to Treat Disease
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David Liu is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. Liu’s lab has introduced breakthrough technologies to the field of genome editing, including base editing and prime editing, with the aim of treating genetic diseases. In their latest work, his research team took a “no stone unturned” approach to det…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: A Surprising Way to Repair Scar Tissue
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Claire Higgins is reader in the department of bioengineering at Imperial College London. Her philosophy of science involves a problem-solving approach to research, where she models tissue growth, development, and repair using human skin and hair follicles. In their latest work, her research team transplanted hair follicles into human skin scars in …
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Scientists often refer to DNA as the blueprint of a cell. Whether the genetic material is single stranded or double stranded, linear or circular, organisms across the tree of life rely on their genomic blueprint for instructions on living, growing, and reproducing. Due to the amount of information carried by this blueprint, the size of the genome p…
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A Way with Words: Using Genomics to Dispel Stuttering Myths
21:25
21:25
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Most mammals communicate vocally but humans are unique in their ability to communicate using spoken language. Humans are not born with an innate capacity to speak and understand language, but rather learn this skill as the brain develops. The complex interplay between neurobiology, genetics, and the environment shape vocal learning, but scientists …
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Immune Cells and ALS: A Balance Between Life and Death
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Neurodegenerative disorders progressively impair a patient’s ability to function. Scientists expect the prevalence of these conditions to increase as the world’s population ages, and their clinical, genetic, and pathological heterogeneity complicates disease diagnosis and prognosis. The link between the immune system and neurodegenerative diseases,…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Building Cancer Models with Creative Collaborators
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Jennifer Munson is an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. Her overarching research goal is to find new therapeutic targets in the tumor microenvironment by examining cancer from an onco-engineering perspective. Munson’s work combines fluid mechanics, neuroengineering, tissue engineering, a…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Sharing Scientific Ideas in Disease Genetics
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Jukka Koskela, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine, studies the complex genetics of various diseases, including rare diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis. Koskela began pursuing research as a requirement of his clinical training at Helsinki University Central Hospital, and through discussions shared with other scienti…
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The Fight Against Time: Stem Cells and Healthy Aging
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Despite the genetic basis of healthy aging, diet plays an important role in preventing inflammation, diabetes, and cognitive decline. Yet, healthy food choices are just part of the equation. Researchers are discovering how fasting can undo some of the metabolic damage imposed by the overindulgences of the typical Western diet. The human body may be…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Wired to Regenerate
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Paul George, an assistant professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford University, taps into the bioelectrical language of the injured brain to reawaken the healing potential of neural stem cells. Inspired by his patients, he looks for innovative strategies that may one day help patients recover from neurodegenerative diseases such …
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Exploring the Secrets to Longevity and Cancer Resistance in Mole-Rats
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14:17
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As humans age, cells often acquire defects that lead to cancer. However, this fate may not be set in stone, as certain animals can circumvent the ravages of time and keep their cells healthy. In this episode, Niki Spahich from The Scientist’s Creative Services Team spoke with Vera Gorbunova, professor of biology at the University of Rochester and c…
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What Comes Up Must Go Down: Maintaining Hormone Balance Through RNA Decay
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13:49
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To regulate protein production, cells use sophisticated strategies to keep RNA levels in check. This balance is especially important for hormone production, particularly aldosterone—the master regulator of blood pressure. When this balance is disrupted, the risk for disorders including hypertension and cardiovascular disease increases. In this epis…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: Making Scientific Strides in the Produce Aisle
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Welcome to Science Philosophy in a Flash, a mini podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. In this series, we highlight researchers’ unique outlooks on what it means to be a scientist. Andrew Pelling, a professor at the University of Ottawa with appointments in the Departments of Physics and Biology, has a fresh approach to…
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Filling in the Gaps: Sequencing the Entire Human Genome
11:23
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Sequencing the human genome in the early 2000s was an incredible feat, but the sequence was incomplete. Recently, a consortium of researchers published a telomere-to-telomere assembly of a complete human X chromosome. This accomplishment was made possible by advances in sequencing technology, allowing researchers to address the previous technical d…
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: A Look at Aging Through Young Eyes
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Welcome to Science Philosophy in a Flash, a mini podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. In this series, we highlight researchers’ unique outlooks on what it means to be a scientist. Aimée Parker, a research scientist at the Quadram Institute’s Gut Microbes and Health Research Programme, looks to the gut as the fountain o…
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Rising from the Dead: How Soil Bacteria Absorb Antibiotic Resistance Genes
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13:58
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Scientists have known for a long time that microbes can take up extracellular DNA fragments, and they have leveraged this transformation process to genetically modify bacteria in the lab. However, transformation is quite fickle and depends on creating the right balance of reagent concentrations and cellular conditions. How this process takes place …
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Science Philosophy in a Flash: A Rising Star Launches Brain Power into Outer Space
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Welcome to Science Philosophy in a Flash, a mini podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. In this series, we highlight researchers’ unique outlooks on what it means to be a scientist. Alysson Muotri, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and director of the Stem Cell program, pushes the boundaries of neuro…
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Mini Episode: Science Philosophy in a Flash - A Scientific Figure of Speech
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Welcome to Science Philosophy in a Flash, a mini podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. In this series, we highlight researchers’ unique outlooks on what it means to be a scientist. Beate Peter, a speech-language pathologist and associate professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions, practices scie…
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Virulence Meets Metabolism: The Unique Evolution of Staphylococcus aureus
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Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen that infects many areas of the body and has a number of strategies for avoiding the immune response. In this episode, Niki Spahich from The Scientist’s Creative Services team spoke with Anthony Richardson, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, to …
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To Conserve and Protect: The Quest for Universal Vaccines
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Viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 are constantly evolving to better infect their hosts. The appearance of new variants often diminishes the effectiveness of existing vaccines designed to induce immunity against pre-existing strains. In this episode, Niki Spahich from The Scientist’s Creative Services team spoke with Patrick Wilson, a profess…
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Finding that Sweet Spot: Understanding Gut Perception One Cell at a Time
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To understand how the gut perceives and communicates information to the brain, scientists are taking a deeper look at the sensory cells lining the gut using cutting-edge techniques such as single-cell sequencing. While there are challenges and limitations to single-cell sequencing, researchers are becoming more adept at integrating the latest seque…
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Preventing the Next Pandemic with Organ Chips
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14:38
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In search for strategies to curb pandemics, scientists strive to understand how pathogens slip past the immune system and wreak havoc on the body. To achieve this goal, researchers study viral infection in models that mimic how different cell types interact with each other, the immune system, or the environment. Organ-on-a-chip models combine tissu…
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DIY Cells: Understanding Life with a Synthetic Minimal Cell
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The cell is a fundamental unit of life that is capable of metabolism, synthesizing biological molecules, harnessing energy, and replicating. To understand how life works, researchers elucidate every detail related to cellular function and determine which processes are essential. With this information, scientists constructed the first synthetic mini…
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Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions, affecting over 65 million individuals worldwide, and is characterized by recurrent, spontaneous, and uncontrollable seizures. Seizures commonly arise in the epileptic brain after a sudden burst in neurological activity. While many anti-epileptic drugs control seizures, one-third of patient…
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Lipids Predict a Slippery Path Towards Parkinson’s Disease
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As neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease wreak havoc on the brain and on our aging society, scientists race to identify factors that trigger neuronal demise and figure out how to stop them. Because neurons can’t be replaced, it is important to detect signs of stress in the brain early, before brain cells pass the p…
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As we know, far too well, infectious disease pandemics have the power to reshape the world. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are observing pathogen evolution in real time as more variants arise and spread in waves. Another infamous infectious disease pandemic, simply called “the plague,” has popped up multiple times in history. How it changed th…
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Molecular Farming: The Future of Pharmaceuticals
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Plant biotechnology is becoming an accepted avenue for pharmaceutical development. Researchers have engineered plants to grow biomolecules that can be made into therapeutics, including vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. These new technologies hold the promise of more readily bringing treatments to low-to-middle-income countries and providing rapid…
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Cancers are diverse and adaptable. That is why a staggering 97% of cancer drugs in clinical trials fail to receive FDA approval. Researchers try to stay one step ahead of cancer by studying the mechanisms that lead to drug resistance, finding new drug targets, and developing novel therapies, such as immunotherapeutics. In this episode narrated by N…
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An estimated 107,000 people in the United States are currently on the waiting list for organ transplantation. These patients face waiting times of 3-5 years or longer before receiving an organ. Even after receiving a donated organ, organ-transplant patients face a high risk of tissue rejection. Regenerative medicine promises the possibility of labo…
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The Brain Behind the Bark: fMRI Imaging Our Canine Companions
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Many secrets are locked inside the brain, including fundamental questions of how individuals perceive the world. Some researchers are seeking answers by mapping brain activity in response to stimuli. This work typically involves human subjects, but certain scientists are branching out to understand the minds of other animals. Niki Spahich from The …
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Thieves on the Inside: Viral Control of Host Gene Expression
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Viral genomes are small, but their products have large consequences for their hosts. During infection, viruses reshape the host gene expression landscape through clever mechanisms that promote viral replication and survival. Niki Spahich from The Scientist’s Creative Services team spoke with Britt Glaunsinger, a professor in the departments of plan…
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At the Breaking Point: Mitochondrial Deletions and the Brain
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The brain requires a lot of energy generated by mitochondria to function properly. Researchers suspect that mutations and deletions in the mitochondrial genome have a bigger effect than previously appreciated, with implications for neurological disorders, such as major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and beyond. Niki Spahich from The Scie…
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The Epigenetic Origins of Allergy and Asthma
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Since the 1950s, there has been a rapid rise in the incidence of allergic diseases, particularly in western countries. Experts agree that the rapid increase in cases is not due to increased awareness, and the genetics behind allergies have not changed. But the environment has changed. Genetic predisposition affects the likelihood of developing alle…
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The Long Haul: Improving Cardiac Cell Therapy Persistence
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Cell therapies treat and repair the body using stem cells or their derivatives. These cells possess great therapeutic potential, but their beneficial effects often fade away over time. In this episode, we explore strategies to improve the persistence of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in the effort to remuscularize hearts after cardiac infarction.…
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Decoding Smell: Demystifying Human Disease and Behavior
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Odors bombard the human nose every day, whether the odors register consciously or not. The way the human brain processes these odors has the potential to characterize disease and shape everyday human interaction. In this month’s episode, we explore the world of odor and how scientists use the sense of smell to better understand the human brain, dis…
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Cancer Immunotherapy: CRISPR Reveals Targets In Vivo
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Welcome to The Scientist Speaks, a podcast produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. Our podcast is by scientists and for scientists. Once a month, we bring you the stories behind news-worthy molecular biology research. This episode is brought to you by 10x Genomics. 10x Genomics builds solutions to interrogate biological systems at a res…
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