Genetics Unzipped

To celebrate DNA Day, we are rereleasing an episode from series 3, called The Past, Present, and Future of the Human Genome Project, when Kat interviewed the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, Dr Eric Green about his work on the Human Genome Project from its very inception.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We take a leftfield look at public communication of genetics, exploring how the science of DNA turns up in popular culture from comics and music to cakes, with Great British Bake Off winner Syabira Yusoff.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re discussing Chris Hemsworth’s recent Alzheimer's risk findings and the pros and cons of direct-to-consumer DNA testing with genetic counsellor and host of the podcast DNA Today, Kira Dineen.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re saying bye-bye to the boys, and exploring whether new gene technologies and climate change will make males extinct.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We're exploring the ethics and regulations of genome editing. What is allowed? What shouldn't be? And who should get to decide? Plus we explore a new exhibit on the topic that lets the public have their say.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re off on a journey to the world of rare genetic disorders, exploring the diagnostic odyssey that patients go on in search of answers, research into variants of unknown significance and new approaches for treating the rare disease Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome (AGS)

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

How much do you know about genetics? In this episode we’re sharing the results of a large survey asking the UK public what their opinions are, what they know, or more importantly, what they think they know about genetics and what that means for society.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Sally Le Page with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re going back to the very genesis of our species in search of the genetic Adam and Eve. Who were they? When and where did they live? Were there really just two of them? And how should we really be referring to these ancient ancestors anyway?

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re going back to the womb to explore the genetics of how to make babies - from finding out how birthweight is linked to the risk of diabetes to investigating the multifaceted role of the hormone prolactin in pregnancy and the role of epigenetics in the placenta.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

In this episode we’re testing the air for tigers and digging up dead bodies as we explore the exciting new field of environmental DNA. Dr Sally Le Page chats with Prof. Elizabeth Clare about sampling the DNA of rare species from the air, and Dr Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser and Charles Konsitzke tells us about their project using eDNA to recover the missing bodies of fallen service personnel.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

The last lecture of the day was given by Michele Goodwin - Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy at the University of California Irvine, and also a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Her talk focused on how the long shadow of eugenics and white supremacy persists into the present day and remain embedded in contemporary political frameworks, and why this pernicious ideology is taking so long to die. So, how does she start thinking about such a complex and challenging topic?

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

Much of Francis Galton’s academic life is associated with University College London, or UCL, and he bequeathed not only his archive but also an endowment for the UK’s first professorial chair in Eugenics. The University’s Galton Laboratory was finally folded into a larger department of genetics, evolution and environment in 2013, and the Galton Lecture theatre was only renamed in 2020. So why did Galton’s name persist for so long? And, looking back, why was he even supported by the University in the first place? These are exactly the kinds of questions that Joe Cain, Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology at UCL, has been trying to answer.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

Anneke Lucassen is Professor of Genomic Medicine & Director of the Centre for Personalised Medicine at the University of Oxford and Professor of Clinical Genetics at the University of Southampton. Her talk, titled “Genomic Medicine, Diverse Data and the Language of Race, Ancestry and Ethnicity” explored the issues caused by a lack of diversity in genomic databases, and the challenges of addressing this in a way that doesn’t cause additional injustice and harm. Kat Arney started by asking why it’s so necessary to do this work.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

Dr Brian Donovan is a senior research scientist at BSCS Science learning – the oldest science education non-profit organisation in the United States. They have a long history in teaching biology, having been developing biology curricula for over 50 years, and were responsible for reintroducing evolution into American high school biology textbooks. His talk explored how better understanding of genetics and genomics in schools can help to dismantle white supremacist culture. Kat Arney started by asking Brian how his interest in biology education intersects with the topic of eugenics.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

Dr Adam Rutherford is a writer and broadcaster, and is an honorary senior research associate at University College London, where he first trained as a geneticist in what was then known as the Galton laboratory. He’s the author of the recent book Control, which explores the dark past and troubling present of eugenics, and gave this year’s Adelphi Lecture on ‘Eugenics and the misuse of Mendel’. To begin our conversation, I asked him where Galton’s ideas originally came from.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

CONTENT NOTE: This interview includes discussion of rape, forced sterilisation and first-hand experience of state-sanctioned eugenic policies.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

Elaine Riddick – a Black woman who grew up in North Carolina - was kidnapped and raped and became pregnant at the age of just 13. Nine months later, in 1968, she was forcibly sterilised by the state without her knowledge during the process of having her son Tony, now a successful businessman. She was not the only one. Tens of thousands of people were sterilised in the US as a result of eugenic policies in the decades following the second world war. Today, Elaine is a steadfast campaigner for women’s rights, and is the Executive Director of the Rebecca Project for Justice, dedicated to protecting life, dignity and freedom for people in the US and Africa. Kat Arney asked her to share her story.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

This podcast is part of a miniseries of interviews with speakers from the 2022 annual conference of the Adelphi Genetics Forum - a learned society that aims to promote research and discussion concerning the scientific understanding of human heredity. Formerly known as the Galton Institute, and before that, the Eugenics Education Society, the society has changed its name to the Adelphi Genetics Forum to firmly reject and distance itself from the discredited and damaging ideas of its namesake, Francis Galton – widely viewed as the founder of eugenics.

In this first episode, I spoke to Turi King, the President of the Adelphi Genetics Forum and Professor of Public Engagement and Genetics in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology at the University of Leicester, to discover the story of the society and why it was finally time to change its name.

You can find out more about the Adelphi Genetics Forum, including their grants, awards and publications, at adelphigenetics.org You can check out the rest of this series on the Genetics Unzipped podcast feed – just search for Genetics Unzipped on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This series was produced by the team at First Create The Media – that’s Kat Arney, Sally Le Page and Emma Werner, with help from Ed Prosser and Frankie Pike. Our music is Drops of H2O by J. Lang, licensed under Creative Commons.

In this episode we’re taking a look at the birds and the bees - not like that! - from the unusual migratory habits of European blackcaps and the ‘greatest shoal on earth’ to the division of labour in a beehive, we’ll be exploring the role that genetics plays in shaping animal behaviours.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

There’s something unnatural about carnivorous plants. We’re so used to plants being at the bottom of the food chain, that to see them trapping, killing and eating animals seems to go against the laws of nature. But of course, carnivory in plants is very real and has evolved multiple times in response to a lack of nutrients. In this episode we’re looking at how carnivorous plants work, what lives inside the digestive juices, and even a future with carnivorous crops.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re exploring what we can discover about our evolution from our DNA, and what evolutionary secrets might be contained in the ancient DNA of our ancestors. Kat Arney looks at why this year’s Nobel Prize awarded for the genomics of ancient humans, how genetic mutations allow Tibetans and their dogs to survive in high altitudes, and dispelling the myth about why many adults can drink milk.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting by Eleanor Bird and audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

It’s a special bonus episode this week, as we wanted to showcase another podcast we think you’ll like, Big Biology, and featuring their discussion about the domestication and genetic modification of rice.

If you’re enjoying it, you can find more about them at bigbiology.org and on Twitter @Big_Biology

In this episode we’re looking at the future of food. With climate change making crop harvests more unpredictable and fresh water becoming a more scarce resource, what are geneticists doing to make sure we will still have food on our plates? Dr Kat Arney chats with Dr Hannah Rees about giving wheat jet lag to create a more reliable crop, and Dr Sally Le Page talks to Dr Tarang Mehta about breeding genetically improved tilapia for fish farming.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re turning the lights on, looking back at the origins of photosynthesis and the mysteries of the chloroplast genome. From The King James Bible to The Great Oxygen Catastrophe, every lungful of air you breathe has a remarkable story.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Emma Werner and Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We’re exploring the frontiers of genetic engineering and synthetic biology with Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel, authors of the new book The Genesis Machine - taking a look at what’s possible now, what’s coming fast in the future, and what we as individuals and wider society should do about it.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page and Emma Werner.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

As we always say, this is the podcast from the Genetics Society, but that’s more true than ever as today we’re looking at the genetics of societies. How can you find your place within a rigid social structure, and is it possible to rise up the ranks and become queen?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics.

We celebrate the 200th birthday of Gregor Mendel and learn about the latest genetics research that would have blown his mind.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode we’re discovering whether size really does matter - when it comes to your genes and genome, that is. Dr Kat Arney gets to grips with why the human genome has so few genes, why some species have more junk DNA than others, and whether you should avoid eating anything with more genes than you.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode we’re exploring genes, brains and the mind, as we ask how much of our personality is innate, and whether anything we do as adults can change who we fundamentally are. Presenter, Dr Sally Le Page, sits down with Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of the book Innate: How the wiring of our brains shapes who we are.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re looking at the stories at your fingertips. Dr Sally Le Page uncovers how excrement espionage could bring down a superpower, and unearths a 100 year old family secret. But it’s not just genetic fingerprinting we’re interested in. We also grasp the genetics of fingerprints, and what they tell us about our early life in the womb.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re taking a closer look at the red stuff, finding out what a few millilitres of blood can reveal about the development, progression and treatment of cancer within the body. Rather than painful surgical biopsies, expensive scans or complicated screening tests, what if we could simply take a small tube of blood and discover a wealth of information, such as whether or not you have cancer in your body, where it started, how to treat it, and whether that treatment is actually working? Presenter Dr Kat Arney finds out what circulating tumour DNA is from Dr Susan Galbraith, how it can be used to monitor the progression of a cancer from Professor Charles Swanton, and what this will mean for future cancer patients from Sir Harpal Kumar.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Our next episode has been held up, so we're taking the opportunity to look back at our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics. This episode was one of Kat's favourites, where she explores the discovery of chromosomes - the strands of genetic material within every living cell. Take a look at Lyonisation, and solve the case of the missing chromosomes.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, presenter Dr Sally Le Page explores the gruesome side of family life in the natural world, getting stuck into a spot of cannibalism and asking: “When exactly should you eat your relatives?”

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We're exploring the genetic secrets of squid. Dr Sally Le Page chats with Dr Sarah McAnulty to find out what has made squid so difficult to genetically manipulate and how they do unusual things with their RNA. We then sit down with Professor Jamie Foster who has been sending glow-in-the-dark squid into space to find out more about our microbiome.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Presenter Dr Kat Arney explores the importance of randomness in genetics. How can we explain differences between individuals with identical nature and nurture? We look at how Ben Lehner’s worm-breaking research has changed our understanding of epigenetics.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, Dr Sally Le Page is delving into the seemingly science fiction world of xenotransplantation, that is, taking organs from animals and using them as organ transplants for humans. We chat with cardiologist Rohin Francis about the groundbreaking operation this year transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into a human, and we chat with Professor Angelika Schneike about how we can avoid getting more than we bargained for from pigs.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, Dr Kat Arney is looking at the monkey in the mirror, investigating how flipped genetic switches and long-dead viruses make all the difference between our human faces and those of our closest primate relatives.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re unpacking the science behind exosomes: one of the hottest new areas of research for both diagnosing and treating diseases.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page with Kat Arney.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this week’s episode of the Genetics Unzipped podcast, we’re exploring groundbreaking discoveries about the secret sex lives of cancer cells, and what it means for our understanding of tumour growth, evolution and treatment. Dr Kat Arney tells the story of how we discovered cancer cells were having sex, plus we look into why female tumours and male tumours act so differently.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

In this week’s episode of the Genetics Unzipped podcast, we’re looking at a genetic history of the Americas. Professor Jennifer Raff discusses her new book, Origins: A Genetic History of the Americas, telling the story of how humans first populated the American continents.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com 

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is created by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re exploring the life and work of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson - one of the first scientists to bring together the worlds of mathematics and biology in the quest to understand how living things are built.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Sally Le Page.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We sit down with geneticist and author Adam Rutherford for a chat about his new book, Control, which explores the horrific legacy of eugenics and its present-day manifestations.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at Genetics Unzipped

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We find out how one of the world’s greatest minds, Alan Turing, revealed the maths behind the stripes on a zebra to the spots on a leopard, and even the pattern of bones in your own body.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

In this reposted episode from August 2019, we’re telling tales of the genetics of sex and death, from the evolutionary origins of sex to Francis Galton's dark eugenic fantasies.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re bringing you our favourite bits from 2021, from the history of mRNA to canine superheroes, brilliant bats to the world’s most adventurous palaeontologist. Enjoy!

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re chatting with Professor Paige Harden from the University of Texas about her new book, The Genetic Lottery, how genetic variations might affect our chances in life, and what - if anything - we should do with this information.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re taking a trip to the zoo, to find out how studying tumours across the animal kingdom in species like elephants and naked mole rats can reveal insights into cancer in our own species.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

Introducing the second series of Hormones: The Inside Story - the podcast from the Society for Endocrinology, produced by the team behind Genetics Unzipped. Find it on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ever had a moment at a crowded gig or in a cramped airplane seat when you wished you could change your height? Georgia Mills investigates how hormones affect our height destinies, and what they have to do with the legend of the Irish giants. Featuring Professor John Wass, Professor Márta Korbonits and Professor Helen Storr.

If you like science podcasts, check out the latest series of Hormones: The Inside Story, from the team behind Genetics Unzipped. We’re busting myths and misconceptions about the complex world of hormones, and exploring everything from how hormones impact our height to whether they hold the key to defying aging. Find Hormones: The Inside Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’re getting in harmony with the science of music. Is there a music gene? Does musical talent really run in families? And how does the inability to perceive music, known as amusia, impact on daily life?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re squelching through Californian mud, swimming with platypuses, bearing witness to daylight robbery and even finding time to catch an episode of Star Trek as we look back on the strangest genetics stories of 2021.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall and additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re exploring the science behind one of the most remarkable but often overlooked organs in the mammalian body - the placenta - and its role in maternal mental health.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re taking a look at how we learned to read the book of life, from the earliest days of DNA sequencing to the very latest futuristic technologies.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Dianne Newbury discusses the story of the Robinson Crusoe islanders and what their genes can teach us about speech and language development.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We discover the origins of DNA, find out where genes come from, and explore what’s next for the genetic code with Hachimoji XNA.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We delve back into the past discover the stories of Denisovans and direwolves that researchers are now able to read in ancient DNA left in bones and cave dirt.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We tell the story of transmissible tumours, looking at the history of contagious cancers in dogs, devils, clams and cannibal hamsters. Plus, the man who caught cancer from his tapeworm.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re meeting some of the researchers who are working to make sure that everyone gets the benefits of genetic research - from underserved, indigenous and tribal communities to entire continents.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

From six-toed cats to cyclops lambs, Kat Arney and Professor Bob Hill from the Institute of Genetics and Cancer at the University of Edinburgh explore the fascinating story and science behind the Sonic Hedgehog gene. 

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We discover how researchers are using genetics to understand more about what’s going on in long-term debilitating conditions including myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and chronic pain.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We discover how researchers have used genetic engineering to create lifesaving drugs such as insulin and monoclonal antibodies that are used to treat autoimmune conditions, cancer and infectious diseases like COVID-19.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re taking to the night skies with a closer look at the genetics of bats and what they can tell us about evolution, longevity and susceptibility to infections like coronaviruses.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. With additional reporting by Georgia Mills.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. With additional research and scripting by Henry Nicholls.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We find out how researchers are unlocking the information hidden within the human genome using new technologies like CRISPR gene editing and artificial intelligence to develop better drugs and get them faster to patients.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We take a look at the history of gene editing, from the early days of restriction enzymes in the 1960s through to the CRISPR revolution and the very latest base editing techniques.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. With additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

An interview with climate scientist Dr Tamsin Edwards from the Suffrage Science podcast: How women are changing science, from the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences Suffrage Science scheme.

Subscribe to the Suffrage Science podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to get the rest. 

Find out more about the Suffrage Science scheme at suffragescience.org and get full transcripts from suffragescience.org/podcast.

We take a look at how humans have shaped animal species all over the world with author Helen Pilcher. Alex Ball from the Wild Genes project explains how genetics helps conservation, and we meet Bill Ritchie, the man who cloned Dolly the Sheep.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We’re exploring the idea of genetic superheroes, and why you might have hidden health powers within your genes.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

Is there a gene for being a Very Good Dog or having a boopable snoot? And how do you turn a fearsome wolf into a pug in a party hat?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall and additional research and reporting by Georgia Mills

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

Kat Arney and Samanth Subramanian look at the extraordinary life of JBS Haldane, whose work, writing and political leanings made him one of the most interesting characters of 20th century genetics.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Andrew Steele, author of Ageless, and researcher Raheleh Rahbari talk about the genetic changes that underpin ageing, and how we can use this knowledge to live longer, healthier lives.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We take a look at the history of mRNA, and the story behind the development of mRNA vaccines and how they’ve been pressed into service at breakneck speed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

In this reposted episode from March 2019, we bring you a very special interview with Mary-Claire King - one of the world’s leading geneticists, whose work has spanned everything from comparing chimps and humans to finding the first breast cancer gene to reuniting families that have been torn apart.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re reposting some of our favourite episodes over the holiday period. In this episode from March 2019, we told the often-overlooked stories of four women who helped to shape the science of life: Esther Lederberg, Harriet Creighton, Tsuneko Okazaki and Martha Chase.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall and additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

Genetics Unzipped is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

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The last episode of Genetics Shambles comes from the Cosmic Shambles 25-hour marathon event, 9 Lessons and Carols for Socially Distanced People, broadcast live on Saturday 12th through to Sunday 13th December 2020.

Shambler-In-Chief Robin Ince chats with geneticist Emma Hodcroft, medical doctor Kevin Fong and immunology expert Dan Davis about what we’ve learned over the past year about COVID-19, vaccines and the way ahead.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Repost from October 2019. The history of genetics has a few famous partnerships - such as James Watson and Francis Crick or Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod. But there’s one pair without whom this podcast wouldn’t exist at all, and that’s Edith Rebecca Saunders and William Bateson, who founded The Genetics Society one hundred years ago.

But while Bateson tends to get the glory, particularly for his popularisation of Gregor Mendel’s ideas about heredity, much less is heard about Saunders - the ‘mother of British plant genetics’. It’s time to tell her story.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.
This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Repost from November 2019

We’re uprooting the tree of life - asking whether we should believe our eyes or our sequencing machines when it comes to deciding what makes a species. Plus, the greatest comebacks of all time - we look at the science of de-extinction and find out whether Jurassic Park could ever become a reality.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com [UPDATE LINK to URL for latest episode]

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. 

We bring you a sneak peek of a new science podcast that you might also enjoy, brought to you by the Society for Endocrinology and produced by First Create the Media - the team behind Genetics Unzipped.

Presented by Georgia Mills, Hormones: The Inside Story uncovers the truth about how hormones affect stress, sleep, body fat, fertility and almost every aspect of our daily lives and health in this new, expert-led, myth-busting show. Available now on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy!

Robin Ince sits down for a chat with Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at UCL. Steve is one of the foremost and most popular science writers on the subject of evolution and genetics and is also a world-leading expert on snails.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We look back over our favourite bits from the podcast over the year, from dark family secrets revealed by genetic testing to the secret scientific history of bird poop.

Jack Nunn - hidden family secrets revealed Listen to the full episode 

The bird poop boom Listen to the full episode

Ewen’s angry birds Listen to the full episode

Darwin’s finches Listen to the full episode

Sarah Tishkoff Listen to the full episode

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall, with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang and reporting by Georgia Mills.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Robin Ince sits down for a chat with Aoife McLysaght, Professor in the Molecular Evolution Laboratory of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, University of Dublin, Trinity College and one of the 2018 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers.

This series of Genetics Shambles is presented in association with The Genetics Society and The Milner Centre for Evolution. Find out more at CosmicShambles.com.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Anyone who has worked with DNA in the laboratory is undoubtedly familiar with the polymerase chain reaction - PCR, as it’s usually known.

Invented in 1985, PCR is an indispensable molecular biology tool that can replicate any stretch of DNA, copying it billions of times in a matter of hours, providing enough DNA to use in sequencing or further research, or for applications like forensics, genetic testing, ancient DNA analysis or medical diagnostics.

It’s hard to overstate the transformation that PCR brought to the world of molecular biology and biomedical research. Suddenly, researchers could amplify and study DNA in a way that had been simply impossible before, kickstarting the genetic revolution that’s still going strong today.

So where did this revolutionary technology come from? Officially, PCR was invented in 1985 by a colourful character called Kary Mullis, who won a Nobel Prize for the discovery (more on him later). But, as we’ll see, all the components of PCR were in place by the early 1980s - it just took a creative leap to assemble them into one blockbusting technique.

Listen to the full episode and find a transcript at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Genetics Unzipped is the podcast from the UK Genetics Society and is produced by First Create the Media. Follow Genetics Unzipped @geneticsunzip, and the Genetics Society @GenSocUK on Twitter.

Listen to Genetics Unzipped on Apple podcasts (iTunes), Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Whenever the topic of genetics is mentioned this is always a question of ethics not far behind. Whether that is in Stem Cell research, genetic modification or even basic healthcare.

In this show Robin chats to two experts in the field. Dr Sarah Chan is Chancellor’s Fellow in Ethics and Science Communicator in The Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Anna Middleton leads the Society and Ethics Research Group in Connecting Science. She is also Professor/Affiliate Lecturer at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Thirty years ago this month saw the birth of one of the most audacious research programmes in biology: The Human Genome Project, an ambitious plan to read the DNA sequence of the entire human genome. Ten years later, in June 2000 - after billions of dollars, countless hours of DNA sequencing, and a huge amount of effort from an international collaboration from 20 institutions in six countries - the first draft of the Human Genome was unveiled.

Dr Eric Green has seen the Human Genome Project through from its inception through to the published sequence and into what’s now the fully-fledged field of human genomics. Today, he’s the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, and a leading light in the world of genes, genomes and genome sequencing. I called him up to chat about the past, present and future of the human genome - starting by going all the way back to the beginning of the Human Genome Project.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Genetic technologies are improving all the time. Not just in sequencing, but in ways that improve our lives. From better crops to curing diseases. And, by pure chance, just hours before we went live with this show it was announced that Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna had won the 2020 Nobel Prize for chemistry for their work with CRISPR and the technology of genome editing.

Robin Ince chats to two experts in the field. Professor Alison Bentley leads the National Institute of Agricultural Biology’s genetics and breeding department within Cambridge Crop Research and Dr Tony Nolan is a molecular biologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine working with Target Malaria.

In this episode we’re taking a road trip from Philadelphia to Baltimore, exploring stories of chromosomal cut-and-paste, cancer cures and Henrietta Lacks’ incredible cancer cells.

Studying human cells in the lab allows us to understand more about how they work, investigate the causes of disease, and design new treatments. But growing cells in the lab isn’t as easy as you might think. We explore the story of how Henrietta Lacks’s immortal cells (known today as HeLa cells) became the go-to human cell line for biomedical research, and the impact they’ve had as a result.

We also tell the story of the ‘Philadelphia chromosome’ (a key cause of chronic myeloid leukaemia), how it was discovered and how it’s discovery influenced the search for a cure.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Every couple of months we gather a new panel of experts for a Q&A on where things are at with our current understanding of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With so much misinformation out there it’s important that you, the public and viewers, get a change to ask a panel of experts directly and unfiltered.

For this, volume 3 of our COVID-19 Q&As Robin is joined by three experts. Dr Emma Hodcroft is a researcher at the University of Basel in Switzerland working on sequencing and builds of SARS-CoV-2. Dan Davis is a Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester and the best selling author of The Beautiful Cure. And Dr Nisreen Alwan is an epidemiologist and Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Southampton.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

In this episode, sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, we’re taking a look at how genomic technologies are transforming cancer care - now and in the future, and the importance of making sure that these advances are available to all.

With:

- Greg Simon, past president of the Biden Cancer Initiative and former executive director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force.

- Jim Downing - president and CEO of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital

- Dr Marianne Grantham, Head of Cytogenetics and Molecular Haematology department at the Royal London Hospital

- Kim Wood, Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Clinical Sequencing Division

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Bacteria are all around us, and inside us. Some of these of these are fine, even good, but others are pathogens and cause disease. How do they evolve and how are we learning to cope with them through new research. And are we in danger of a new age of antibiotic resistance?

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Dr Siouxsie Wiles is a microbiologist specialising in infectious diseases at the University of Auckland and has been one of the most prominent public faces of New Zealand’s world leading COVID-19 response. Dr Jenny Rohn is a cell biologist at UCL where she runs a research lab looking at microbiological infections, particularly in the urinary tract. And Lavanya Mane is the final year of her PhD research at the Francis Crick Institute looking into the metabolic interactions between bacterial pathogens.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

In this episode we’re going back to the very beginning, telling the stories of the midwives of the field of developmental genetics, two talented researchers whose work helped to reveal the secrets of life in its very earliest stages: Hilde Mangold and Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch.

The tale of developmental genetics is a thrilling one, with everything you need for a good story. There’s politics, drama, upheaval, prejudice, and even a suspicious death. So hold on tight, this is a good one.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in humans globally. But the catch all term of ‘cancer’ is often misunderstood. So what exactly is this cell disease that impacts so many of our lives? How long has it been around? How does it spread? What is our current understanding of its evolution and genetics? And the big question many of us have, where are we at with our fight against it?

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Dr Kat Arney is a writer and presenter and former spokesperson for Cancer Research UK. Her book Rebel Cell, on the evolution of cancer, has just been released. Dr Mariam Jamal-Hanjani is a Clinical Associate Professor/Honorary Consultant at the Research Department of Oncology at UCL and a visiting scientist at the Francis Crick Institute’s Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory. And Dr Samra Turajlic is a clinical group leader and oncologist studying cancer evolution at the Francis Crick Institute.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We take a look at the progress that’s been made in tackling rare genetic disorders (and the challenges that remain) and we hear from a prenatal genetic counsellor about how new tests are helping people carrying genetic variations make decisions about starting a family.

With Dr Ron Jortner (founder and CEO of Masthead Biosciences and trustee of the Cambridge Rare Disease Network) and Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Over the first four episodes of this series we’ve looked at COVID-19, historic epidemics, human evolution and the human genome and in each episode we’ve invariably talked about ‘sequencing’. Sequencing genomes and DNA of living things. So we thought it time to discuss the very act of sequencing itself. What is it, how do we do it, why do we do it and how can we get better at as technology improves.

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Professor Jay Shendure is a human geneticist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and is one of the world’s pioneers in exome sequencing. Dr Lucy Van Dorp is a Senior Research Fellow at the University College London Genomic Institute working on infectious diseases and ancient DNA. And Professor Mark Blaxter is an evolutionary biologist at the Sanger Institute where he’s the Leader of the Tree of Life Project.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We bring you exclusive excerpts from my new book, Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life, exploring where cancer came from, where it’s going, and how we might beat it.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Over millions of years Humans have evolved into becoming quite the dominant species on the planet. So, how did we get to now? What have we come from and how are we still evolving as a species? And what changes can we expect in the future in terms of diet, life span and population?

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Professor Chris Stringer is an anthropologist and Research Leader in Human Evolution at the Natural History Museum in London. Dr Becky Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist, writer and expert in Neanderthals. And Dr Aida Andres Moran is an Associate Professor in Genetics, Evolution & Environment at University College London.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We look at the ancient war between our genes and the pathogens that infect us, going back thousands of years to the Black Death and before, through to our very latest foe.

With Claire Steves (King’s College London), Christiana Scheib (University of Tartu) and Lucy van Dorp (UCL).

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. [ADJUST CREDITS AS REQUIRED eg With additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang, reporting by Georgia Mills]

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

The Human Genome Project has been referred to as one of the great feats of scientific exploration and discovery in human history. But what was it, and, more to the point, what is the human genome and why was sequencing it such a big deal? And in 2020, some 17 years after it was deemed completed, what has it helped us with in the fields of biology and medicine, and what is there still to discover?

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Geneticist, broadcast and author of a number of best selling books on the subject, Dr Adam Rutherford, one of the founders of the Human Cell Atlas Group and the Head of Cellular Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Dr Sarah Teichmann and co-chair of the 1000 Genomes Project and founder of Genomics plc, Professor Gil McVean.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We take a look at the world of epigenetics - finding out if more than DNA passes on to the next generation, whether Darwin was wrong and Lamarck was right, and how to pimp your genome. Plus - meet the Mickey Mouse Mice.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

What can research into past viruses and epidemics tell us about this new pandemic of COVID-19? What has changed in the world of genetics research since the time of HIV for example? Robin Ince chats to Dr Emma Hodcroft, a phylogenetics researcher from the University of Bath and Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, pharmacologist, geneticist and the NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics at the University of Liverpool.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

In this episode, supported by the Medical Research Council, we discover how researchers are letting the light shine in, literally, by bringing discoveries about the underlying genetic faults that cause eye diseases all the way through to game-changing clinical trials of gene therapy designed to save sight.

With RP patient advocate and fundraiser Ken Reid, Robin Ali from Kings College London, and Roly Megaw and Chloe Stanton from the MRC Human Genetics Unit, in the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with reporting by Georgia Mills, and audio production by Hannah Varrall and transcription by Viv Andrews. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode we tell the stories of two women - one a scientist fascinated by dancing mice, the other a seamstress with a deadly family legacy - who made significant contributions to our understanding of cancer as a disease driven by genetic changes, paving the way for lifesaving screening programmes for families.

Over the past year or so I’ve been writing a new book, Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life, exploring what we’ve learned so far about where cancer comes from, where it’s going, and how we might finally beat it. It’s coming out in the UK on the 6th of August and in the US on the 29th September - and is available now to pre-order from rebelcellbook.com - and we’ll have some excerpts coming up in a future episode of the podcast.

UK Amazon link (affiliate) https://amzn.to/2BdT5zu

While I was researching the book, I came across the stories of two remarkable women - Maud Slye and Pauline Gross - who both made significant contributions to our fundamental understanding of cancer, but who have tended to be overlooked in many tellings of the history of cancer research. Here are their stories.

Thanks to Jenny Rohn for the voice of Maud Slye. If you want to read more about Pauline and Family G, and the impact that their genetic legacy has had on the family down the generations, check out Daughter of Family G, a memoir by Ami McKay, which we’ve drawn on heavily for this episode. Ami weaves together the strands of family history and science together with her own personal story to create a really compelling and emotional story.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

We’re off on our virtual travels, finding out about the highs and lows of genetics fieldwork. From chasing butterflies up mountains to artificially inseminating kakapos with the help of drones and putting angry birds in paper bags until they poo, we talk to the researchers studying genetics and evolution in action.

Every year The Genetics Society runs the Heredity Fieldwork Grant scheme, awarding up to £1,500 to cover the travel and accommodation costs for researchers wanting to carry out a fieldwork project in genetics.

Our stay-at-home roving reporter Georgia Mills caught up with four intrepid explorers who’ve been off on their travels in locations as exotic as New Zealand, Lanzarote and the Lake District to hear more about their research and what they learned out in the field.

If you’re a genetics researcher and you’d like to apply for a Heredity fieldwork grant, head over to The Genetics Society website, genetics.org.uk and take a look at the grants section.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with reporting by Georgia Mills and audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode we’re taking a look at the life of Dame Anne McLaren - one of the leading embryologists of the 20th century, whose work underpinned the development of the in vitro fertilisation techniques responsible for bringing millions of bundles of joy into the world, and much more besides.

This story was first published in the book A Passion for Science: Stories of discovery and invention, which is packed with 20 stories about amazing women in science and is available to download as an ebook for just £1.99.

With thanks to Suw Charman-Anderson, founder of Ada Lovelace Day, and Professor Azim Surani.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode we’re taking a virtual trip to Africa to explore the genetic diversity in the birthplace of humanity, discover how researchers can read the cultural and historical stories written in the genome, and discuss the implications for the lack of diversity in our current genetic databases for global health. With Sarah Tishkoff from the University of Pennsylvania and Garrett Hellenthal and Lucy van Dorp from UCL.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

The names of James Watson and Francis Crick are inextricably linked with the discovery of the DNA double helix. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that credit is also due to Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins and Ray Gosling too.

But what about Elwyn Beighton, Fred Griffith or Rudolf Signer? In this episode we’re unwinding history to uncover some of the less well-known stories behind the discovery of the structure and function of DNA.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

Research into genetic conditions relies on information from patients and their families, whether that’s detailed health records or genomic data. As the tools and techniques for DNA and data analysis become cheaper and more organisations get in on this fast-growing field, it’s vital to make sure that the most valuable research resource - human lives - doesn’t get overlooked in the rush. In this episode, recorded at the recent Festival of Genomics in London, we find out why it’s so important to make sure that both academic and commercial research studies are done with rather than on participants.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

35 years ago this month, a small team of scientists at the University of Leicester published a paper that changed the world. We take a look at the story of genetic fingerprinting, and some of the very first ways that this game-changing technique was put to work.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

To get involved in the Genomics Education Programme’s week of action you can follow them on Twitter, @genomicsedu, and get on the hashtag #GenomicsConversation or head over to genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk

In this episode in partnership with the Genomics Education Programme, we’re taking a look at some of the common myths and misconceptions surrounding genomics and genetics tests. Are mutations always bad? If you’re more like your mum, does that mean you’ve inherited more of her genes? And is there such a thing as a perfect genome?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

If you know a bit of biology, you might know that the genetic code of DNA is written in just four ‘letters’ - A, C, T and G. You may even know that these letters are the initials come from the names of the molecules that make up the double helix, known as nucleotide bases: adenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine. But where did those strange-sounding names come from? In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, we go from poop to pus to atomic bonds on our journey to learn about the discovery of these vital chemicals and how they got their names.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional scripting and research by Emily Nordvang and audio production by Hannah Varrall. This podcast is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics.

In this episode, we’re hunting for the ghosts in our genomes, recreating the story of the discovery of the double helix in Lego, and science writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford tells us how to argue with a racist.

Full show notes, transcript and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

In this episode exploring great ideas in genetics, we’re discovering our inner fish - finding out whether we really do go through a fishy phase in the womb, and looking at the legacy of Tiktaalik, the first fish to walk on land.

Born in 1834, Ernst Haeckel was a German zoologist with a flair for illustration - and a knack for creating incredibly detailed and widely shared scientific images. But do his infamous embryo drawings really show the true picture of early development?

Haeckel thought that we went through a 'fish' stage in the womb because our embryos appear to have gills during early development. Although his theory that 'ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny' has subsequently been shown to be incorrect, we now know there is a close connection between development and evolution, or 'evo-devo' as it's sometimes known.

In short, our evolutionary history is written in our developmental genes, and it’s a history that we can trace right the way back to the very first vertebrates. The best example of this is Tiktaalik - our oldest 'fishapod' ancestor that forms the missing link between fish and land-dwelling tetrapods.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

It’s become cheaper and easier than ever to access genetic testing, and more and more people are having their genomes ‘done’ for reasons of personal interest, health or ancestry. But what happens when an innocent genetic investigation reveals dark family secrets? And how do we properly engage and inform people about genetic testing and research, so that they really know what they’re getting into?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re exploring a couple of iconic images in evolution - the much-parodied March of Progress, portraying the inexorable journey from monkey to man, and the famous finches of the Galapagos islands, which are supposedly the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Where did these infamous images come from, and do they really show what everyone seems to think they do?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is presented by Kat Arney, with scripting and research by Emily Nordvang, and is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Audio production by Hannah Varrall.

Professor Turi King from the University of Leicester reveals the secrets of the Y chromosome and how the remains of Richard III were identified.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

The Celts are one of the most famous - and misunderstood - people who lived in ancient Britain. Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE, FBA from the University of Oxford explores the myths and the reality.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Dr Lara Cassidy from Trinity College Dublin talks about her work exploring the genomic history of Ireland.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Sir Walter Bodmer FRS from the Weatherall Institute, Oxford, explains what we know so far about genetic structure and origins of populations of the British Isles.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Dr Silvia Bello from the Natural History Museum in London is investigating how patterns of human behaviour have changed over the last million years.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Ian Barnes and Dr Selina Brace, ancient DNA researchers at the Natural History Museum in Lopndon, discuss how their work on ancient DNA is shedding light on the British population from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work. and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Nick Ashton, an archaeologist at the British Museum, is studying the earliest humans in Europe.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work. and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

In this episode we’re bringing you highlights from the Society’s Centenary Conference, held up in Edinburgh last month. We’ve got stories of sneaky sheep, substandard racing stallions, the Vikings of the Scottish Isles and a ceilidh with a scientific spin. Plus, news from the front lines of the sperm wars.

Full transcript online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re uprooting the tree of life - asking whether we should believe our eyes or our sequencing machines when it comes to deciding what makes a species. Plus, the greatest comebacks of all time - we look at the science of de-extinction and find out whether Jurassic Park could ever become a reality.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with additional research by Emily Nordvang, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

We’re reporting back from the Manova Global Health Summit, exploring the latest advances in health technology such as CRISPR-based gene therapies, infection-fighting viruses and a potential cure for HIV.

Plus veteran health columnist Jane Brody’s advice for a healthy life, and reflections on progress in cancer from US journalist and advocate Katie Couric.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is presented by Kat Arney and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

We explore the story of Edith Rebecca Saunders - co-founder of The Genetics Society and the ‘mother of British plant genetics’.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com
Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall

In this episode we’re getting our hands dirty by delving into the poop-ome - the trillions of bacteria that live inside our guts and make up what’s known as the microbiome. Rather than simply being a bunch of bugs, the microbiome is now believed to play a role in virtually every aspect of health and disease. But what are they up to? How do we even know what species are in there? And can you blame your stinky farts on your bacteria?

With:

-Tim Spector, King's College London

-Rob Finn, European Bioinformatics Institute

-Hilary Browne, Wellcome Sanger Institute

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter - @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re looking at mergers and acquisitions - but in a biological rather than a financial sense. We find out what happens when two cells decide to move in together, unpack the history of genetic engineering and bleat on about the story of Dolly the Sheep.

Full shows notes including transcript and music credits at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Audio production by Hannah Varrall.

Why are tumours more likely to develop in some tissues than others? Why are bowel and breast cancers so common when heart cancer is so rare? And will low doses of radiation from medical scans create the conditions for unruly cells to grow, even without damaging DNA? In the latest episode of Genetics Unzipped we’re tackling the Big Questions about the Big C as we dig into some of the mysteries surrounding what’s often seen as the ultimate genetic disease: cancer.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

In this episode we’re bringing you a selection of our favourite bits from the year so far that you might have missed.

We’re taking a short summer break and will be back again with new episodes from the 12th of September. In the meantime, I’ve picked a few highlights from our earlier episodes that you may have missed. I hope you enjoy listening to them, whether again or for the first time, as much as producer Hannah and I enjoyed making them.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Please fill in our short listener survey so we can make the podcasts even better, and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of Kat’s book, Herding Hemingway’s Cats.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re telling tales of sex, death and extinction, and exploring the very darkest side of genetics.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at geneticsunzipped.com

In this episode we’re taking a trip in a genetic time machine - back into the past to discover the origins of ancient human populations, and into the future to explore the realities of personal genome sequencing.

Please fill in our short listener survey so we can make the podcasts even better, and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of Kat’s book, Herding Hemingway’s Cats.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics, online at genetics.org.uk. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/8/1/019-the-genetic-time-machine

Please take a moment to do our brief listener survey - https://geneticsunzipped.com/survey - thanks very much.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re exploring the dark heart of the genome, untying nature’s shoelaces, and looking back at the discovery of RNA splicing.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/7/18/018-cut-paste-pair-repeat

We’re celebrating the actual birthday of the society - founded on the 25th June, 100 years ago - with past president, Nobel laureate and winner of the Genetics Society’s first centenary medal, Sir Paul Nurse (and some very fruity DNA-based cocktails...)

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/7/4/017-happy-100th-birthday-to-us

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re unravelling the story of the double helix, cracking the triplet code, and sketching out a Punnet square.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/6/20/016-genetics-by-numbers

In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, reporter Graihagh Jackson loses herself in the Valley of Hybridisation at the Genetics Society's medal-winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and discover the importance of playing with your genes.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/6/6/015-up-the-garden-path

In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re taking the train to London with William Bateson as he brings Mendel's ideas to Britain, seeking the secrets of snapdragons, and discovering how to build an army of MinIONs.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

The first draft of the human genome came with a price tag running into billions of dollars. In less than twenty years, the cost of whole genome sequencing had plummeted, making the thousand dollar genome a reality by 2014, and opening up a consumer market for personal genome sequencing - although as geneticist Elaine Mardis quipped, it’s a $1000 genome, and a £100,000 analysis. The price for sequencing continues to fall, and several companies are vying to be the first to break the hundred dollar barrier.

But, according to George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and one of the world’s leading authorities on genes and genomes, we’re about to see the dawn of the zero dollar genome, making personal whole genome sequencing effectively free in exchange for the data.

We also chat with genomics researcher Manuel Corpas about how his experience of personal genome sequencing became very personal once he got his whole family involved, particularly when everyone started competing to see who had the 'best' genes.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes and links available at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/5/9/the-zero-dollar-genome

In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we explore the discovery of chromosomes - the strands of genetic material within every living cell - take a look at Lyonisation, and solve the case of the missing chromosomes.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

Full show notes, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

In this episode we ask, what would have happened if Darwin had read Mendel? And what if they’d been on Twitter? Plus, something else that Darwin would have loved: an ambitious project to sequence the DNA of everything across the tree of life.

Presented by Kat Arney, with Greg Radick (University of Leeds) and Dan Mead (Wellcome Sanger Institute).

Full transcript, notes and references available from GeneticsUnzipped.com

Kat Arney tells the stories of four women from the history of 20th century genetics, and explores how sexism in scientific culture led to their achievements being overlooked.

There's Esther Lederberg, whose work on phage Lambda paved the way for her husband Joshua's 1958 Nobel Prize. She was also the inventor of replica plating - a technique still used in microbiology labs all over the world today - yet struggled to get tenure and recognition for her work.

Harriet Creighton, the first graduate student of groundbreaking plant geneticist Barbara McClintock, discovered how chromosomes cross over and switch sections of DNA when germ cells are made. But after seeing how difficult it was for her mentor to get funding, Harriet left research in favour of a career as a university lecturer.

Tsuneko Okazaki discovered the eponymous 'Okazaki fragments' - short fragments produced when DNA is copied - together with her husband Reiji. While many said that it was a Nobel-worthy discovery, Reiji died in his 40s, and Tsuneko was never awarded the prize in her own right.

And finally, there's the story Martha Chase, whose famous 'blender experiment' with Alfred Hershey helped to prove that DNA carries the genetic information inside cells.

Full show notes, including scripts and music credits at GeneticsUnzipped.com

In this episode we bring you a very special interview with Mary-Claire King - one of the world’s leading geneticists, whose work has spanned everything from comparing chimps and humans to finding the first breast cancer gene to reuniting families that have been torn apart.

Get the full transcript, links and references from https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/3/14/009-chimps-cancer-genes-and-missing-kids

Produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society. Written and presented by Kat Arney, audio production by Hannah Varrall. Follow us on Twitter @geneticsunzip

This is a special edition of Genetics Unzipped, in association with the Genomics Education programme - part of Health Education England. We’ll be finding out how genomic medicine is coming into the NHS, and what it means for everyone working in the health service.

Since the publication of the draft sequence of the human genome back in the early noughties, researchers and doctors have been working hard to harness the secrets within our DNA in order to benefit human health. Progress was slow for several years, due to the high cost and slow pace of sequencing technology. Everything changed with the advent of Next Generation Sequencing in around 2009, making it possible to read the entire sequence of anyone’s genome at low cost and high speed.

To realise the potential of this technology in healthcare, the 100,000 Genomes Project was launched in 2012 aiming to sequence - as you might have guessed - 100,000 genomes from people affected by cancer and rare diseases within the NHS.

The next chapter began in October 2018, when NHS England launched a brand new Genomic Medicine Service, using insights and information from the new era of large-scale DNA sequencing, known as genomics, to improve the nation’s health. The service is aiming to sequence 500,000 whole genomes over the next five years, as part of the UK government’s broader aims to reach five million genomic tests by 2024.

More information and show notes online at Geneticsunzipped.com

In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re entering the glamorous world of modelling, taking a look at the eclectic collection of model organisms that have been put to work in the lab to reveal the secrets of biology.

Full transcript and notes online: https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/2/28/007-supermodels-of-science

We’re looking at the genetics of failure - why we fail to lose weight thanks to our genes, and why billions of dollars are wasted developing drugs that don’t work. Full show notes and transcript available at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/2/14/006-big-fat-failure

Genetics Unzipped is the Genetics Society podcast. Written and presented by Dr Kat Arney, produced by Hannah Varrall for First Create the Media. Full show notes available online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/

In this episode we’re taking a dive into the world of evolutionary genetics to witness the fitness - we ask whether street smart city-dwelling birds are genetically different from their country bumpkin relatives, how butterflies got their brightly patterned wings, and if today’s genetic research would have blown Darwin’s mind.

Full show notes and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/

In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re hunting down Huntington’s disease, discovering why viruses are so important for geneticists, and chasing the science behind spidergoats.

behind the scenes at the iconic Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with Professors Alice Roberts and Aoife McLysaght - plus the fire-obsessed demonstration expert Fran Scott - to find the answer to the question “Who am I?”

Big news! Genetics Unzipped is a new podcast from the Genetics Society, taking a look at the world of genes, genomes and DNA. Here's a quick teaser from our first episode, featuring Alice Roberts, Aoife McLysaght and Fran Scott, taking a sneak peek behind the scenes at the 2018 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

More info online at geneticsunzipped.com