S6.01 Baby brain, baby body: the genetics (and epigenetics) of reproduction
Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped - the Genetics Society podcast, with me, Dr Kat Arney. In this episode we’re going back to the womb and making babies - exploring how birthweight is linked to the risk of diabetes and investigating the multifaceted role of the hormone prolactin in… pretty much everything in pregnancy
Happy new year! We’re delighted to be back for another season, bringing you fascinating stories from the frontiers and the history of genetics.
Before we start, I want to flag up a brilliant opportunity for PhD students in the field of genetics, and that’s The Genetics Society’s Communicating Your Science workshop, running from the 26th to the 28th of April in the beautiful setting of Chicheley Hall near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. Even better, as in previous years the tutors on the course are your podcast hosts, me and Sally Le Page, along with other members from my fab team from First Create The Media. It’s free to attend from within the UK and there’s also a carer’s allowance available to enable people with caring responsibilities to attend. Applications are open now and close at midnight on the 20th February, so get in there quick if you want to come - just follow the link in the show notes on the page for this podcast at geneticsunzipped.com or go to the Genetics Society website, genetics.org.uk and browse the Grants section. I’ll see you there!
Back in November I headed to the Royal Society in London for The Genetics Society’s autumn meeting focusing on the genetics of reproduction. It was a great day packed full of lectures from some of the world’s leading lights looking at the science of baby-making, so I caught up with a few of them to find out more about their work.
Dave Grattan: Prolactin, the hormone that does everything
First up, I just knew I had to grab Professor Dave Grattan from the University of Otago after his fascinating talk exploring some of his latest findings about the role of the hormone prolactin in pregnancy. It’s long been known as a hormone that promotes lactation, or the production of breast milk, in mammals - hence the name, pro-lactin - but Dave and his team are finding that it does so much more than that.
Rachel Freathy: Birthweight and diabetes risk
Recent figures show that around one in ten people over the age of 40 in the UK are living with type 2 diabetes, adding up to millions of cases. But according to Rachel Freathy, Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School, for at least some of these people the seeds of their disease may have been sown back in the very earliest stages of life.
Rachel and her team have been looking at the correlation between birthweight and the risk of developing diabetes later in life.
Image courtesy of Rachel Freathy
Image courtesy of Courtney Hanna
Courtney Hanna: How to make a placenta
And finally, I also caught up with Courtney Hanna, a group leader at the Centre for Trophoblast Research at the University of Cambridge. She’s fascinated not by how to make a baby, but how to make the vital organ that sustains it: the placenta. As we explored with Ros John and Sam Behjati back in episode 20 of season 4, Baby Boom, the placenta is an extraordinary tissue that is very poorly understood for something that has such an essential role in reproduction - a view that Courtney also agrees with.
Next time we’ll be going even further back in reproductive history to explore the literal genesis of our species as we go on a hunt for the genetic Adam and Eve. Who were they, when did they live, and should we even be referring to them using these names anyway?
For more information about this podcast including show notes, transcripts, links, references and everything else head over to geneticsunzipped.com You can find us on Twitter @geneticsunzip and please do take a moment to leave us a rating in the Spotify app or review us on Apple podcasts - it really makes a difference and helps more people discover the show.
This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written and presented by me, Kat Arney. It’s produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas 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, audio production is by Sally Le Page and Emma Werner. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.
