Jul 29

Jul 29 S4.15 Catching cancer: A story of devils, dogs and cannibal hamsters

Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped - the Genetics Society podcast, with me, Dr Kat Arney. In this episode we’re telling the story of transmissible tumours, looking at the history of contagious cancers in dogs, devils, clams and cannibal hamsters. Plus, the man who caught cancer from his tapeworm.

Before we start, a quick plug for the second series of Ingenious - my BBC Radio 4 show looking at the stories - and a bit of the science - behind our genes. This time around we’re tackling the fat gene FTO, the Huntington’s gene, the Warrior gene, the HIV resistance gene, and the eyeball gene, or Pax 6 to give it its scientific name.

I’m delighted to be back for another series, as it’s a great opportunity to share the kinds of stories we tell here on Genetics Unzipped. Last time we covered the ginger gene, the breast cancer gene, the Alzheimer’s gene, the milkshake gene and the cyclops gene, or Sonic Hedgehog, which we also covered in a recent episode of this show. Each episode is only 15 minutes so do go back and check them out if you have some time over the summer.

You can listen to all the episodes from both series on iPlayer, if you have access - just search for Ingenious Kat Arney, or follow the link from the page for this podcast at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Today we’ve got another Kat Arney project for you to enjoy… This episode is a special excerpt from my latest book - Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life - which is coming out in paperback in the UK on the 5th of August. It’s a fascinating, fact-packed and surprisingly fun tour through what we currently know (and don’t know) about what cancer is, where it comes from, and where it’s going.

Rebel cell was selected as one of The Times Best Books of 2020, saying "A lively study of the Big C, which makes the case that cancer is the price we pay for our marvellously complicated bodies"

It’s been described as a book “packed with big ideas about life. Every chapter has something in it which made me think wow.” “A crystal clear reappraisal of the story behind that word we fear to mention.” “A myth-busting masterclass in science writing" “a bright, engaging read, fizzing with energy and metaphor.” “Not boring at all” and “A riot”. And Laurence Hurst, president of The Genetics Society said, “This lively, scholarly and accessible book should be essential reading for oncologists the world over and powerfully demonstrates that nothing in biology, cancer included, makes sense except in the light of evolution.”

If that gets your curiosity going, then please do pre-order the paperback of Rebel Cell now from your retailer of choice - the more people preorder, the greater the chance of going into the charts, and maybe - just maybe - my mum will be proud of me at last.

Rebel Cell is also out in the US and many other territories, and it’s available wherever books are sold.

Just search your favourite retailer or head to rebelcellbook.com to buy a signed copy or signed bookplate sticker. Thank you.

Usually we would have a written transcript of the episode around about here, but for copyright reasons we can't include the text - you'll have to buy the book!

That’s all for now. If you want to know about the stuff I didn’t have room to include here - like the story about the terrible guy who injected cancer cells into prisoners and people with dementia - plus lots and lots more about cancer, evolution and the science of life, then check out my book Rebel Cell, available now as a hardback or to preorder as a paperback from all good retailers, and the usual evil one too. And head to rebelcellbook.com to buy a signed copy or signed bookplate sticker.

We’ll be back next time taking a look at what we can learn about the past from ancient DNA, from Denisovans to direwolves (yes, they are real!)

For more information about this podcast including show notes, transcripts, links, references, music credits and everything else head over to geneticsunzipped.com You can find us on Twitter @geneticsunzip and please do take a moment to rate and review us on Apple podcasts - it really makes a difference and helps more people discover the show.

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by me, Kat Arney. It is produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. You can find out more and apply to join at genetics.org.uk. Our theme music was composed by Dan Pollard, and the logo was designed by James Mayall, and audio production was by Hannah Varrall. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.