Latest Podcasts

In 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.

In this episode, the TN team discusses 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.

Advances in genetic testing have come with a lot of ethical baggage. In this podcast we discuss how clinical testing can throw up surprise results for doctor and patient, the test data that is helping fight COVID-19 and how one of our own editors responded to receiving her genetic risk scores.

In this episode, we discuss the potential of personalized, precision approaches to change healthcare. We hear how cancer care has been one of the first areas to take advantage of patient-specific data, the risks and rewards of increased access to genomic data and how neuroscience is beginning to explore diseases of the brain at a personal level.

In 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?

In this episode, the Technology Networks team discusses drug treatments to combat SARS-CoV-2. These drugs, like the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, have often been repurposed for the task, and evidence for their efficacy remains patchy. Why do researchers turn to these medications and how will the field of drug development be changed by the COVID-19 pandemic?

In this episode, the Technology Networks team investigates the placebo effect. Why have placebo treatments become more effective at treating patients in the last few decades (but only in the USA) and what do powerful placebos mean for clinical trials?

In this episode, the Technology Networks team takes a bite into the world of food fraud. We take a look at famous cases of fraud, including scandals involving horse meat, baby formula and expensive wine. We also discover the analytical methods that inspectors can try and use to find fraudulent food before it makes it to your plate.

In this episode, the Technology Networks team discusses the community of bacteria that have made our bodies their home: the microbiome.

In this episode, the Technology Networks team discusses the rejuvenated field of psychedelic drugs research and how it might provide solutions for enduring mental health disorders.