Genetics Unzipped

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.

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.

A taster episode of Hormones: the Inside Story. 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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.