S6.23: 40 years of HIV: the disease that broke the rules
Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped - the Genetics Society podcast, with me, Dr Emma Werner. With 2023 marking 40 years since the discovery of HIV, this week we're looking back over four decades of AIDS, from the earliest whispers of a mysterious new disease to fighting back against this deadly virus....
Before we go any further, let’s acknowledge the obvious: I am not Kat or Sally. Eager listeners of the show may recognise my name from the end credits of previous episodes - I am one of the producers of this podcast and usually work behind the scenes to help the show run smoothly. But as an early Christmas treat, this time I am stepping in front of the microphone to bring you a story of my choosing.
Credit: David S. Goodsell, The Scripps Research Institute, Wellcome Collection.
Inside HIV: The genetic story of the AIDS epidemic
If you’re listening to this episode on the day of its release, then tomorrow 1st December will be World AIDS Day 2023. So as a molecular biologist with a long-standing fascination for infectious diseases, this week I want to tell you the story of HIV, starting from the very beginning…
Click here to read the full transcript…
Coming up from the Genetics Society!
The deadline for the last round of Junior Scientist Conference Grants this year is coming up tomorrow, 1st of December - so if you’re really speedy, there is still just about time to send in your application. These grants support the attendance of junior scientist members at genetics conferences with funding of up to £750. Application details are on the Genetics Society’s website, genetics.org.uk.
We’ll be back next time taking a closer look at our genomes and so-called ‘junk DNA’. What can we learn from hundreds of thousands of human genomes about health and disease? What lies lurking within the ‘dark genome’ in between our actual genes? And is most of it really just junk?
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, presented and produced by me, Emma Werner, in collaboration with Sally Le Page and with additional research by Miyako Rogers. It’s a First Create the Media production 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. The executive producer is Kat Arney, our theme music was composed by Dan Pollard and the logo was designed by James Mayall. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.
