Drug development is a slow process at the best of times. So the best way to rapidly find treatments for Covid-19 was to find known drugs that could be repurposed to fight the new disease. But with the confusion created by the myriad of studies published about Covid-19, often without peer-review, how do you keep track of everything?

This is where Jamie Davies stepped in. His lab created a curated database of known drugs and drug targets that should be prioritised in the fight against Covid-19, and provided a reliable source of information about new research. In this episode, Tom talks to Professor Davies about the purpose of this new database, how the pandemic has changed the way research is done, and what effects this could have on science going forward.

You can find out more about Professor Davies and his work on his lab’s website, his University of Edinburgh staff page, and his blog.

Not Another Science Podcast is edited by Helena Cornu, hosted by Tom Edwick and brought to you by Edinburgh University Science Magazine (EUSci). Our podcast logo  was designed by Apple Chew. The podcast cover art was designed by Heather Jones. Visit our website at www.eusci.org.uk to check out the latest issue of the magazine, a ton of other cool science content by our student journalists, and to see how to get involved. All podcast episodes and transcripts can be found at www.eusci.org.uk/podcasts/.

Music by Kevin Macleod:

When a pandemic disrupts your 3D printing operations, what do you do? Well, if you’re the team at Augment Bionics, you shift gears and start mass producing Personal Protective Equipment. Augment Bionics is a student start up from the University of Edinburgh, and in normal times their engineers design and print prosthetic limbs. Financed by a GoFundMe campaign, they are currently making 10 000 face shields a week, which are donated to the NHS. Tom talks to Jess Cox, the social media and marketing lead at Augment Bionics, to find out more.

You can find Augment Bionics on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Instagram.

Check out their website for more information on how they make prosthetic limbs, and PPE.

And if you can, please donate to their GoFundMe. If you can help in other ways, get in touch with them via their website.

Other titles considered for this episode included: PPE, Fresh Off The Press; Mind the PPE Gap, Rushed to Print, and Having a Shield Day.

Not Another Science Podcast is edited by Helena Cornu, hosted by Tom Edwick and brought to you by Edinburgh University Science Magazine (EUSci). Our podcast logo  was designed by Apple Chew. The podcast cover art was designed by Heather Jones. Visit our website at www.eusci.org.uk to check out the latest issue of the magazine, a ton of other cool science content by our student journalists, and to see how to get involved. All podcast episodes and transcripts can be found at www.eusci.org.uk/podcasts/.

Music by Kevin Macleod:

Why do some people get more sick than others? The answer could lie in our genes. 

In this episode we talk to Max Fourman, who is part of the Baillie Lab run by Dr Kenneth Baillie, and based at the Roslin Institute at The University of Edinburgh. They use genomics - the sequencing, study, and mapping of the genome - to search for the genes that make some people more susceptible to disease. The lab is using this knowledge to study COVID-19, leading a large, collaborative, open-source research study called GenOMICC (the Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) to try and understand why some people are more severely affected by SARS-CoV-2.

Not Another Science Podcast is edited by Helena Cornu, hosted by Tom Edwick and brought to you by Edinburgh University Science Magazine (EUSci). Our podcast logo  was designed by Apple Chew. Visit our website at www.eusci.org.uk to check out the latest issue of the magazine, a ton of other cool science content by our student journalists, and to see how to get involved. All podcast episodes and transcripts can be found at www.eusci.org.uk/podcasts/.

Music by Kevin Macleod: