Unraveled

There are approximately 20,000 genes in the human genome. 20,000 packets that house the blueprints for every human cell. And every human cell contains a complete copy of that genome. It’s an incredible feat of bio-engineering. But here’s the question. If every human cell contains every single human gene, how does the cell know what to do? What process determines whether it becomes a pancreas or a patella? And what happens if that process falters—if the right gene is selected but cast in the wrong role.

What do cancer researchers and 15th century Florentine masters have in common? Well for one, a culture of mentorship. Both come of age in a culture where knowledge is transmitted from master to pupil. In this episode, we take a closer look at that culture, and the crucial role mentorship plays at Dana-Farber, and with Nobel laureate, William Kaelin.

The parable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing tale reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem, that bad guys can dress up as good guys to do their bad guy things. And there’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing story in cancer research, complete with a crafty predator, a clever disguise, and a visionary team of researchers who finally found a way to nab the wolf. 

It’s hard to overstate just how important oxygen is to life on earth. Almost every living thing on the planet needs it to convert fuel into energy. We can’t survive without it. Not even for a handful of minutes. Fortunately, our bodies know this. And they’ve developed several (easier to say) rapid response systems to keep us going when oxygen runs low. 

A few cancers have found a bug in the system, a way to sound a false alarm and make the body think it’s low on oxygen when it’s not. And then to hijack the body’s response to feed hungry tumors. It’s a complicated process, and a fascinating one. And it earned one Dana-Farber doctor the biggest prize of all. 

The complex science of cancer is unraveled in this six-episode series featuring the science behind the 2019 Nobel prize; the disguises cancer cells take on to evade the immune system; turning science fiction into fact with cell therapy; the links between COVID-19 and cancer research and more.