Starting a story at the beginning makes sense… but what if there is a mistake in that first sentence? Does it invalidate the rest of the story? What if your experiment is based on an assumption that later turns out to be false? And how can you protect your tower of discoveries from tumbling down?

We start with an unbelievable story about New York City being buried in horse manure, and discover the solution is in Detroit. Then we witness how British doctors thought they had solved polio, but actually hadn’t.

Finally Dr Wayne Lautt explains Looping Theory… and how that can mistake proof your experimental results.

These science stories from history shed light on the modern research being done on Type 2 Diabetes. Specifically, we highlight the work of SciMar as they examine the hormone HISS - Hepatic Insulin Sensitizing Substance - and the effect it has on glucose levels in people who are insulin resistant. www.SciMar.ca

Going Back to Square One

In Season 2 of the series we will share a new collection of surprising and unusual stories from the history of science.
In each episode we will feature two seemingly unrelated stories from the past. Then, Dan Riskin will connect the dots between those stories and offer insight into how that history impacts modern medical research.

We are learning from the past so we can understand the present, and inform the future.

Along the way we will learn how a professor at Stanford turned mild mannered young men into cruel vicious prison guards, and how the Irish Potato Famine really had nothing to do with potatoes.

We will ask questions such as: “Did we learn the wrong lesson from the sinking of the Titanic?” “How many people did Orson Wells actually fool?” and “What exactly is Maple Syrup Urine Disease?”

In these ten episodes we will also follow along with SciMar as they take their breakthrough science into the testing phase. Will the things they discovered in a row of test tubes in the lab be repeatable in real people? And will that prove to be the final cure for type 2 diabetes?

So, if you are intrigued by science, get excited about the process of discovery, and want to have the best stories at your next dinner party, this is the show for you. We promise a season full of guinea pigs, Corona beer, shipwrecks, and cobras.

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The series is produced by SciMar, a medical research company developing a new way to detect, treat and cure type 2 diabetes. Rather than insulin from the pancreas, they are focused on hepatalin, a hormone that comes from the liver. We will use historical stories to shine a light on where this modern company is headed.

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It's Award Season

How you tell a story goes a long way to determining whether or not it gets believed, and remembered.

Spreading the News

Let’s talk about the use of animals in medical research. It’s not a subject that people are very comfortable discussing, but we are going to do it anyway.

We will start with an incredible story of a fire in Bar Harbor Maine that impacted the health of people all over the world for years, even though they never even knew about it.

Then we will ask the question ‘what really causes Ulcers, and how did researchers figure that out?’

Dr Wayne Lautt has used animals in his experiments for years. But his approach to it is very different from the mainstream view.

Guinea Pigs

The relationship between researchers and funders is complicated.

Some people think that researchers should be left to their own direction and that all financial support should be ‘no-strings attached.’ But is that possible? Is it desirable?

We look at how the Roman Coliseum was funded, and ask ‘what impact did that have on its design and its use?’

Then we turn our attention to NASA --- is the space agency funded by the military? Should it be? And how has its unique funding arrangement impacted what it does?

Finally we’ll confront the thorny question of ‘how much influence should funding agencies have over research?’

Follow the Money

The Amish community in Pennsylvania is heavily impacted by genetic diseases. You might think that their resistance to modern technology would make it difficult to treat these conditions. But actually their philosophies around family and community make it easier to manage these diseases.

John Franklin’s ships were lost to the world for more than a century and a half. They were only discovered by a team of people that combined modern search tools with historical knowledge.

We talk with Jennefer Nepinak about the concept of ‘two-eyed seeing.” Through this approach we consider new ways of dealing with mental health, and diabetes.

Going Back to Square One

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