Genetics Unzipped

By The Genetics Society

Natural Sciences Medicine

What's Genetics Unzipped about?

Genetics Unzipped is a podcast from the UK Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Find us online at genetics.org.uk

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S4.09 Genes and giants - th...

05.06.2021

We’re taking a look at the genetics of giants and the science of small. Why do some species grow so large? Who was the ‘Irish Giant’? And why did life on a Mediterranean island miniaturise a mammoth?

Genetics Unzipped episodes:

05.06.2021 S4.09 Genes and giants - the science of big and small We’re taking a look at the genetics of giants and the science of small. Why do some species grow so large? Who was the ‘Irish Giant’? And why did life on a Mediterranean island miniaturise a mammoth?
04.22.2021 S408 Making better medicines: unlocking the promise of genomics for drug discovery 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.
04.08.2021 S407: A brief history of CRISPR: how we learned to edit the genome 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.
04.01.2021 Suffrage Science: Dr Tamsin Edwards 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.
03.25.2021 S406: Giving nature a helping hand: how humans are shaping species 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 ...
03.11.2021 S405: How to be a superhero: the hidden powers within your genes We’re exploring the idea of genetic superheroes, and why you might have hidden health powers within your genes.
02.25.2021 S4.04 - Dogology: The genetics of our four-legged friends 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?
02.11.2021 S4.03 - A dominant character: The life of JBS Haldane 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.
01.28.2021 S4.02 - 100 not out? Genes and ageing 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.
01.14.2021 S4.01 Genes and Vaccines: Where mRNA COVID-19 vaccines came from and how they work In this episode we’re taking a look at 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.
01.14.2021 S4.01 Genes and Vaccines: Where mRNA COVID-19 vaccines came from and how they work 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.
01.07.2021 S3.28 Repost Chimps, cancer genes and missing kids: An interview with Mary-Claire King 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 ...
12.31.2020 S3.27 Repost Not just the wife 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.
12.24.2020 Genetics Shambles 12: 9 Lessons and Carols for Socially Distanced People Audio EDIT REMOVE 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 ...
12.17.2020 S3.26 Repost When 'Becky' met Bateson: Edith Rebecca Saunders, the mother of British plant genetics 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 ...
12.10.2020 S3.25 Repost Uprooting the tree of life: Darwin, DNA and de-extinction Reposted 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 ...
12.03.2020 Are my hormones making me fat? Hormones: The Inside Story We bring you a sneak peek of a new science podcast that you might also enjoy, brought to you by the Society for Endocrinology. Hormones: The Inside Story uncovers the truth about how hormones affect stress, sleep, body fat, fertility ...
11.26.2020 Genetics Shambles 11: In conversation with Prof Steve Jones 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 ...
11.19.2020 S3.24 Best bits of 2020 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.
11.12.2020 Genetics Shambles 10: In conversation with Prof Aoife McLysaght 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.
11.05.2020 S3.23 Heat, Stick, Duplicate, Repeat: The Story Of The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) In this episode we’re taking a look at the story and the characters behind one of the most transformative - and ubiquitous - techniques in modern molecular biology: the polymerase chain reaction.
10.29.2020 Genetics Shambles 9: The ethics of genetics 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.
10.22.2020 S3.22 The Past, Present and Future of the Human Genome Project In this episode we bring you an in-depth interview with Dr Eric Green, director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute and one of the key instigators of the Human Genome Project, to talk about the past, present and ...
10.15.2020 Genetics Shambles 8: New genetic technologies Genetic technologies are improving all the time - 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 ...
10.08.2020 S321 From Philadelphia to Baltimore: Tales of Chromosomes, Cancer Cells and Henrietta Lacks 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.
10.01.2020 Genetics Shambles 7: COVID expert panel 3 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 ...
09.24.2020 S3.20 The Future of Cancer: How Genomics is Transforming Research and Treatment for All In this episode, sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, we’re taking a look at how genomic technologies are transforming cancer care, and the importance of making sure that these advances are available to all.
09.17.2020 Genetics Shambles 6: Dealing with pathogens 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. ...
09.10.2020 S3.19 Making Babies and Getting Organised: Celebrating Hilde Mangold and Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch 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 ...
09.03.2020 Genetics Shambles 5: The evolution of cancer 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 ...
08.27.2020 S3.18 Rare, Well Done: Progress and challenges in rare genetic disorders 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 ...
08.20.2020 Genetics Shambles 4: The sequence of everything 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 ...
08.13.2020 S3.17 Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life 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.
08.06.2020 Genetics Shambles 3: Humans - Evolved and evolving 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 ...
07.30.2020 S3.16 Sickness and susceptibility: The ancient war between genes and disease 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.
07.23.2020 Genetics Shambles 2: A guide to the human genome 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 ...
07.16.2020 S3.15 Pimp My Genome: the wonderful world of epigenetics 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 how to pimp your genome. Plus, meet the Mickey Mouse Mice.
07.09.2020 Genetics Shambles 1: COVID-19 and Learning from the Past 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 ...
07.02.2020 S3.14 The eyes have it: From genetics to gene therapy 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 ...
06.18.2020 S3.13 The Cancer Ladies: Maud Slye and Pauline Gross 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 ...
06.04.2020 S3.12 Out Standing in the Field: the highs and lows of genetics fieldwork 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, ...
05.21.2020 S3.11 From one generation to the next: the life and work of Anne McLaren We take a look at the life of leading embryologist Dame Anne McLaren, whose work underpinned the development of the IVF techniques responsible for bringing millions of bundles of joy.
05.07.2020 S3.10 Out of Africa: uncovering history and diversity in the human genome We take a virtual trip to Africa to explore the genetic diversity in the birthplace of humanity and discover how researchers can read the cultural and historical stories written in the genome.
04.23.2020 S3.09 Twisted history: the true story of the double helix 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 ...
04.09.2020 S3.08 Nothing about me without me: involving patients in genomic research 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. Recorded at the 2020 Festival of Genomics.
03.26.2020 S3.07 An accidental invention: the story of genetic fingerprinting 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 ...
03.12.2020 S3.06 Can you have a 'perfect genome'? Myths and misconceptions in genomics 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 ...
02.27.2020 S3.05 - Poop, pus and the Manhattan Project: How we learned to spell the genetic alphabet 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 ...
02.13.2020 S3.04 Race to the Bottom In this episode, we’re hunting for the ghosts in our genomes, telling the story of the discovery of the double helix in Lego, and finding out how to argue with a racist.
01.30.2020 S3.03 - Fish, facts and fiction, from Haeckel’s embryos to Tiktaalik 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.

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