Season 4 features stories about graduate students whose fundamental research in biology is poised to have an impact on society. In this episode, we’ll hear from Keene Abbott. He’s a cancer researcher, but the way he goes about it might feel counterintuitive at first glance. In order to find new ways to fight the disease, Keene studies what makes cancer cells feel more at home in the lab.

Produced by Eva Frederick and Raleigh McElvery. Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Hardsider” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Vegimaine” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Talltell” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Borough” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Tapoco Critter” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Lamplist” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 4 features stories of graduate students whose fundamental research in biology is poised to have an impact on society. In our third episode, we hear from Alex Chan, who is studying how Toxoplasma gondii — a parasite best known for its presence in cat poop — can infect cells in the human body in a condition called toxoplasmosis.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Eva Frederick. Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Grimmail” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Caverna” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Begrudge” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Big River Run” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Dany PKL” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Campfire Interlude” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 4 features stories of graduate students whose fundamental research in biology is poised to have an impact on society. In our second episode, we hear from Jade Varineau, who’s investigating what goes wrong when errors in genetic code confuse the cells that form facial structures. Down the line, her research could inform treatments for craniofacial disorders.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Eva Frederick. Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Cran Ras” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Cornicob” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Lord Weasel” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Caprese” — Blue Dot Sessions

“November Mist” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Sals Place” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 4 features stories about graduate students whose fundamental research in biology is poised to have an impact on society. In our first episode, we’ll meet Tina Lopez, a graduate student in the Knouse Lab. Tina grew up in the border town of McAllen, Texas. At MIT, she’s in search of the mysterious signal that cues the liver to rebuild itself post-injury.

Produced by Eva Frederick and Raleigh McElvery. Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“The Onyx” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Elainne Chapter” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Trek VX” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Gra Hovedvei” — Blue Dot Sessions

“These Times” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 3 features stories of breaking the mold. In our third and final episode, we’ll meet Cesar Dominguez. His family emigrated from Mexico to the U.S. at a young age. Growing up in a relatively homogenous community led him to seek out more diverse perspectives as he honed his research skills in structural biology. He now studies how cells can withstand and transmit mechanical force.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin.

Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Kilkerrin” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Valley VX” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Brad PKL” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Jog to the Water” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Cach PKL” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Chafftop” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Pacific Time” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Dimming Circuit” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 3 features stories of breaking the mold. In our second episode, we’ll meet Thy Pham, a fifth-year graduate student in the Bartel lab. After moving to the U.S. from Vietnam at age 20, she learned English while delving into biophysics and computer science courses, opening a door to a career that she hadn’t realized was available to her. At Whitehead Institute, she’s applying artificial intelligence to predict how cells fine tune gene expression using short sequences of RNA called microRNAs.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin.

Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Brek PKL” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Dowdy” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Eggs and Powder” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Net and Cradle” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Lissa” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Dance of Felt” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Lakeside Path” — Blue Dot Sessions

“New Crescente” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 3 features stories of breaking the mold. In our first episode, we’ll meet Yamilex Acevedo-Sánchez, a third-year graduate student in the Lamason lab. Her first exposure to science was through TV. But she’s since learned that the media often showcases a narrow swath of the faces behind the discoveries. Now a scientist herself, she’s seen firsthand the diversity of disciplines and brainpower that fuels the research community. Her own research project explores how deleterious pathogens sneak from one cell to the next, spurring infection.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin.

Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Two Pound” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Louver” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Friction Model” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Mercurial Vision” — Blue Dot Sessions

“First Results” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Chafftop” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Crumbtown” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Lo Margin” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Plain Grey” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 2 features stories of converging paths. In our forth and final episode, we hear how José Orozco, an MD-PhD student in the Sabatini lab, seeks to make a difference in patients' lives by tackling big mysteries about how our cells work, and how their dysfunction leads to disease.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin.

Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Greyleaf Willow” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Game Hens” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Sage the Hunter” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Calisson” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Secret-Pocketbook” — Blue Dot Sessions

“The Summit” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Scallat” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Astrisx” — Blue Dot Sessions

“The Bus at Dawn” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Vela Vela” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 2 features stories of converging paths. In our third episode, we hear how graduate student Shalini Gupta of the Bell lab sculpts her own grad school experience inside and outside the lab. While tackling a key question of how cells copy their DNA, she has also found ways to be a leader in her community and to mentor budding scientists.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin. Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue. In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free

“Beignet Interlude” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Castor Wheel Pivot” — Blue Dot Sessions

“Brass Buttons— Blue Dot Sessions

“Coulis Coulis” — Blue Dot Sessions

“A Palace of Cedar” begins” — Blue Dot Sessions

Season 2 features stories of converging paths. In our second episode, we hear how graduate student Avi Singer of the Keating lab applies chemistry to biological problems, collaborating with computational biologists to explore how even small chemical changes to our body’s building blocks can have far-reaching consequences.

Produced by Raleigh McElvery and Conor Gearin.

Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive and Blue Dot Sessions at www.sessions.blue.

In order of appearance:

“Something Elated” — Broke for Free,

“Tiny Putty” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Beignet” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Awaiting an Arrival” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Palladian” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Turning to You” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“True Blue Sky” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Tarte Tatin” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Dusting” — Blue Dot Sessions,

“Hundred Mile” — Blue Dot Sessions