Genetics Unzipped

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.

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.

We tell the stories of four women who have often been overlooked in the history of 20th century genetics: Esther Lederberg, Harriet Creighton, Tsuneko Okazaki and Martha Chase.

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.

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.

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.

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

In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re digging around in the genetic vegetable patch - from flavourful tomatoes and chunky onion genomes to Mendel’s peas.

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.

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.