Latest Podcasts
Opinionated Science Episode 21: The Roundup – Moon Phases, Anti-Cancer Elephants and Poop Infusions
PodcastIn this episode, the TN team rounds 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.
Opinionated Science Episode 19: Next-Generation Sequencing Takes Over the World
PodcastIn 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?
Opinionated Science Episode 18: The No-COVID Science Wrap-Up of 2020
Podcast2020 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.
Opinionated Science Episode 17: I Got COVID-19: Here's What Happened
PodcastThis 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.
Opinionated Science Episode 15: COVID-19 and the Brain: Investigating the “Silent Wave”
PodcastOn this episode, the team will discuss how the SARS-CoV-2 virus affects our brain. This podcast will untangle the disparate effects involved, covering everything from a subdued sense of smell to serious brain inflammation and damage.
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Opinionated Science Episode 14: Cancer Immunotherapy: Vaccines, Viruses and Nobel Prizes
PodcastIn this episode, the team explore cancer immunotherapy, a revolutionary set of treatments that has fundamentally changed cancer care.
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Opinionated Science Episode 12: Green Labs: Sustainable Science and Exploding Microscopes
PodcastIn this episode, the team discuss the growing movement for sustainable science. Research has a yeti-sized ecological footprint, and here we follow the tracks from ozone-destroying CFCs and energy-guzzling freezers through to a new future for science that promises to make labs eco-friendly at last.
Opinionated Science Episode 11: Biohacking: DIY Gene Editing, Fluorescent Beer and COVID-19
PodcastIn this episode, the team take a deep dive into the world of biohacking. Practitioners of this DIY biology have big goals: making genetic technologies available to all, bypassing government regulation of drugs and (on the fringes of the movement) achieving immortality.
Opinionated Science Episode 10: COVID-19 Vaccines: Three Leading Candidates, Assessed
PodcastIn this episode, the TN team discuss three promising vaccine candidates being developed for COVID-19. We take a deep dive into the data from these vaccine trials to try and work out what successes can be celebrated and what unanswered questions still remain.
Opinionated Science Episode 7: The Vagus Nerve: A Target to Treat Brain and Body?
PodcastIn this episode, we review the evidence surrounding vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), a therapy approved for epilepsy and depression that backers now want to use to treat a host of other conditions, include autoimmune disease and heart failure. How can scientists fill in the gaps in the VNS knowledge base?
