Opinionated Science

In this episode, the TN team round up some of the best and weirdest science from the last month. Hear how elephants and naked mole rats fight cancer, how immunotherapy is getting a microbial boost from poop transplants and why researchers think our sleep patterns might be affected by the phases of the moon. 

 In this episode, we explore data integrity – a pillar of good science. We hear from our expert speakers how modern labs can improve their data and, of course, what happens when mistakes or fraud compromises data integrity.

In this episode, the team discuss the omnipresent technology of next-generation sequencing (NGS), which has seen the cost of sequencing a human genome go from $100 million to under $1000 in just two decades. We hear from the European Bioinformatics Institute’s Dr Alex Almeida, who uses NGS techniques to examine the human microbiome. We also investigate the future of NGS and ask what will happen when we have sequenced absolutely everything?

2020 has been a memorable year in science for many reasons, most of them bad. As we finally begin to see some chinks of light at the end of this incredibly long year, the Opinionated Science team look back at some of the biggest stories of the year that were nothing to do with COVID-19, including brain implants, inherited trauma and millions of tons of microplastics. 

Read more from this podcast: 

Opinionated Science takes a deep dive into Neuralink

This episode is a COVID-19 podcast with a first-hand focus. Podcast host Ruairi Mackenzie discusses his experience with symptomatic COVID-19. And we also look at the data around COVID-19 risk and age and discuss the emerging problems posed by long COVID.

In this episode, the team discuss the metabolome; the billions of tiny molecules that our cells produce every second. Scientific understanding of the metabolome has leapt forward, opening the door to a better understanding of how to treat disease, how to live a healthier lifestyle and even how trauma can be passed down via our metabolites.

On this episode, the team will discuss how the SARS-CoV-2 virus affects our brain.

In this episode, the team explore cancer immunotherapy, a revolutionary set of treatments that has fundamentally changed cancer care. In exploring how our immune system can be turned against cancer, we follow a trail from ancient China to the cutting edge of medical research and look to a personalized future for immunotherapy. Opinionated Science is Technology Networks’ homemade podcast, where our team of scientists-turned-journalists cut out the chewy jargon and serve up slices of the most fascinating stories from the world of science. 

In this episode, the team discuss efforts to let your brain communicate beyond the limits of your head. Whilst much of this research is still in early stages, scientists have shown how individuals can share thoughts through brain wave-based games of Tetris, and tech entrepreneurs have looked to a future where brains can be directly joined with computers. We look into these technologies’ potential to help paralysis patients and the ethical implications of a network of interconnected brains.