Genetics Unzipped

This episode explores the historical impact of Gregor Mendel and William Bateson on genetics, questioning if a Weldonian perspective could have offered an alternative view.

Dr.

This episode explores the ethical considerations of extracting and sequencing DNA from ancient human remains, featuring an interview with Professor Thierry King about his work identifying King Richard III's remains.

This bonus episode of Genetics Unzipped re-releases an interview with Dr.

This episode explores the history, current applications, and ethical considerations of genome editing technologies, from basic research to human genetic disease treatment.

This episode features an interview with Michele Goodwin discussing how the legacy of eugenics and white supremacy persists in modern society and institutions.

This episode features an interview with Elaine Riddick, a survivor of forced sterilization under eugenic policies, discussing her personal story and broader questions about justice, institutional responsibility, and learning from the eugenic past.

This episode explores how tardigrades, microscopic animals that survive extreme conditions like boiling, freezing, and space exposure, can teach us about desiccation, vaccine delivery, and space travel through an interview with molecular biologist Professor Thomas Boothby.

This episode celebrates the 200th anniversary of Gregor Mendel's birth by exploring his life, work, and the modern genetics research that builds on his foundational discoveries.

This interview with Dr.

This episode explores extra-chromosomal DNA, its functions and genetic implications, while also promoting a related BBC Radio 4 documentary series on cancer's history, treatment challenges, and future research.

This episode features an interview with Dr.

This episode explores whether new gene technologies and climate change could lead to the extinction of males, focusing on genetic sex determination across various species.

This episode features interviews with Genetics Society award winners Cecilia Lindgren on obesity genetics and Lucy Van Dorp on COVID-19 spread tracking, recorded at a symposium celebrating DNA's 70th anniversary.

This episode of Genetics Unzipped discusses the future of the podcast, including a listener survey for funding decisions and a focus on rising stars in genetics, potentially as a final episode.

This episode explores a survey on public knowledge and attitudes toward genetics, discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced science engagement and perceptions.

This episode explores how DNA technology is being used to detect art forgery and uncover genetic secrets from historical figures like Da Vinci, Van Gogh, and Beethoven.

This episode explores the 40-year history of HIV/AIDS, tracing its discovery and impact from early cases in 1981 to modern understanding.

This bonus episode of Genetics Unzipped introduces and features the podcast Big Biology, including an interview with its hosts about their show's focus on conversations with active scientists covering diverse biological topics like rice domestication.

This episode explores Chris Hemsworth's genetic test revealing high Alzheimer's risk, discussing the ApoE gene, direct-to-consumer genetic testing like 23andMe, and insights from a genetic counselor.

This episode of Genetics Unzipped reviews the top genetic stories of 2022, including a pig heart transplant, Nobel Prize winner Svante Perbo's work on extinct human genomes, and Gregor Mendel's bicentennial.

This episode explores how plants adapt to environmental changes and how genetic research can help ensure sustainable food production for the future.

This episode explores the origins of photosynthesis and the chloroplast genome, focusing on eukaryotic organisms and the role of the nucleus in genetic control.

This episode explores how genetics appears in popular culture, from movies and music to baking, featuring an interview with scientist and baker Shabira Yousaf.

This episode explores the historical legacy of eugenics through an interview with Professor Joe Cain, focusing on how institutions like University College London have grappled with their connections to Francis Galton and the eugenics movement.

This episode explores the current and future possibilities of genetic engineering and synthetic biology, discussing both the transformative benefits and potential risks of technologies like CRISPR and DNA synthesis.

This episode features an interview with Professor Anneke Lucassen discussing the challenges of addressing eugenics' legacy, diversity in genomic databases, and ethical issues in genomic medicine.

This episode is a compilation of unaired clips from favorite interviews in 2023, while also requesting listener feedback on the podcast's future funding and direction.

This episode explores the nuanced historical reality behind the discovery of DNA's double helix structure, challenging the simplified narrative of Watson and Crick stealing credit from Rosalind Franklin.

This episode explores how researchers are studying animal genomes to find genetic adaptations that could lead to breakthroughs in human health, particularly in cancer therapy.

This episode explores the behind-the-scenes work at a leading genomics institute, featuring an interview with Cordelia Langford about her career and the evolution of genetic research from early DNA sequencing to the Human Genome Project.

This episode explores the story of Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection who is often overshadowed by Charles Darwin, through an interview with evolutionary biologist Professor Jim Costa.

This episode explores the genetic origins of humanity by examining the concepts of genetic Adam and Eve, their historical context, and how we should refer to these ancient ancestors.

This episode explores the history and recent name change of the Adelphi Genetics Forum, formerly known as the Eugenics Education Society and Galton Institute, as it grapples with its eugenic past and aims to promote responsible genetics research.

This episode explores the field of environmental DNA (eDNA), discussing how it can detect animals and human remains through environmental samples like air and mud, with insights from Professor Elizabeth Clare.

This episode explores the biology and evolution of carnivorous plants, focusing on pitcher plants and their insect-trapping mechanisms, featuring an interview with researcher Ulrike Bauer.

This episode follows DNA detectives from the Mutagraphs of Cancer project in Kenya as they investigate the genetic causes of cancer by analyzing genomic fingerprints.

This episode explores the challenging journey patients with rare genetic disorders face in getting diagnoses, the research into how gene variations cause disease, and new treatment approaches.

This episode explores how genetics influences animal behaviors such as migration in birds, bees, and sardines, examining whether these patterns are hardwired in their DNA.

This episode explores the latest release of half a million whole genome sequences from UK Biobank and examines how this data will advance medical research by investigating the dark genome and questioning how much of human DNA is actually junk.

This episode explores how geneticists are addressing food security challenges posed by climate change, focusing on wheat shortages caused by factors like war, heatwaves, droughts, and floods.

This episode explores the genetics of social hierarchies in honeybee societies, examining why rigid structures exist where workers serve queens and reproductive rights are controlled.

This episode explores the science, history, and future potential of DNA and RNA vaccines, tracing their development from early smallpox vaccination to modern applications.

This bonus episode introduces the podcast 'Hormones: The Inside Story' and previews an episode exploring the genetics, ethnicity, and maternal factors influencing type 2 diabetes.

This episode explores the genetic links between birth weight and diabetes risk, and the role of prolactin in pregnancy, while also promoting a science communication workshop for genetics PhD students.

This episode explores how ancient DNA analysis reveals insights into human evolution, featuring Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Svante Pebo's work on Neanderthal genomes.

This episode explores whether genome size matters, starting with the 2001 draft human genome sequence.

This episode explores the role of genetics in shaping personality, featuring an interview with Kevin Mitchell, who discusses brain development, behavioral genetics, and the interplay between genes and environment.

This episode explores the genetics of fingerprints, covering topics from genetic fingerprinting in crime to the unique patterns in primates and koalas, with a humorous story about chimps at London Zoo.

Genetics Unzipped's "In the blood" examines ctDNA, the tumour DNA fragments that can be detected in a blood draw and used to track cancer development, progression, and treatment response.

Dr Sally LePage opens Genetics Unzipped by asking when animals should eat relatives, then ties the question to Foray ritual cannibalism and Kuru in Papua New Guinea.

Genetics Unzipped uses Squid Game as a hook while Dr Sally LePage connects squid genetics, egg biology, and bacterial symbiosis.

Ben Lehner's worms showed the same mutation could hit 80% of animals, or only 50%.

Genetics Unzipped with Dr Sally LePage examines xenotransplantation through the first genetically modified pig heart transplanted into 57-year-old David Bennett in January.