The Science Scholars Podcast

This week, Katie and Caleigh (and Nelly) tackle climate change. We discuss cause, effects and what we can do to try to combat it. With effects, we discuss the change in climate (hot and cold), hurricane strength and extinctions. Katie also discusses a well documented phenomenon of probability distortion, that could make assessing the effect of climate change difficult.

This week, Katie and Caleigh discuss complexes associated with the cell membrane and how to find out what they look like. Caleigh discusses a new technology that allows membrane proteins to be soluble (which could make it easier to find the structure of these proteins!!!!). In Katie's paper, the Brunger group used crystallography to find the structure of the complex (the SNARE-synaptotagmin-complexin complex) that assists vesicle fusion in neurons.

We discuss the ~popular~ Crispr-Cas9 system that has been in the news recently and what it can do. Caleigh's paper touches on how the Crispr-Cas9 system was implemented in human embryos and could cure a genetic heart disease (previously featured in One Tree Hill). Katie's paper discusses using Crispr-Cas9 to generate genetic models for research, focusing on two different types of ants (from the Desplan and Kronaeur labs).

This week, we discuss two papers that address problems with recently developed methodologies and the ~bachelor finale~ (because we are trying to keep it 100). Katie talks about the actual mechanism behind DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) and what that could mean for previously published research. Caleigh touches on a techniques paper that was retracted because several other labs couldn't replicate their findings.

In our second episode, we discuss chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease that has captured the public's attention because of it's prevalence in American football players. We discuss a paper that examined 111 brains from former NFL plays; 110 exhibited CTE symptoms. We also discuss potential diagnostic techniques and new clinical trials using PET scanning techniques and newly designed tracers that bind to tau proteins.

We discuss how basic research is helping to provide a fresh take on current therapies in neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. Katie summarizes a paper about how interactions between two populations of cells in one brain area could result in better Parkinson's Disease treatments. Caleigh talks about a paper detailing the structure of tau filaments in Alzheimer's, which could be used to inform the development of more targeted, safe, and effective drugs.