Ruth Garde is the creative producer behind Cut+Paste a hands-on exhibition at the Francis Crick Institute that aims to explore the ethical issues around gene editing and gather the public’s views about how this technology should be used.
All in Health
Robin Lovell-Badge: Who should decide what is allowed when it comes to genome editing?
Robin Lovell-Badge discusses why genome editing regulations and ethical approval decisions should not be left up to scientists alone.
Professor Yanick Crow: Testing a new treatment for Aicardi–Goutières syndrome
Professor Yanick Crow and his team at the MRC Human Genetics Unit are testing new treatments for a rare genetic disorder called Aicardi–Goutières syndrome, or AGS.
Natalie Frankish: From a Diagnostic Odyssey to a Good Diagnosis
Natalie Frankish from Genetic Alliance UK explains the long route to diagnosis for patients with rare genetic diseases and what a good diagnosis should look like.
Dr Joe Marsh: Understanding the role of Variants of Unknown Significance in rare disease
Dr Joe Marsh at the MR Human Genetics Unit is trying to figure out how variations in the genome might cause disease.
Professor Zosia Miedzybrodzka: Expanding genetic testing for rare diseases
Professor Zosia Miedzybrodzka from the University of Aberdeen explains how testing for rare genetic diseases has changed over the years, and where it’s heading in the future.
Rachel Freathy: Birthweight and diabetes risk
Dr Rachel Freathy and her team at the University of Exeter are looking at the correlation between birthweight and the risk of developing diabetes later in life.
Courtney Hanna: How to make a placenta
Dr Courtney Hanna and her team at the University of Cambridge are investigating the epigenetic changes that influence the growth and development of the placenta - a vital but poorly understood organ.
Dave Grattan: Prolactin, the hormone that does everything
Professor Dave Grattan and his team at the University of Otago are investigating the multifaceted role of the hormone prolactin in pregnancy.
My milkshake brings all the genes to the yard
While it might not be as dramatic a superpower as being able to live four kilometres up a freezing mountain, the ability of many humans to drink milk in adulthood is certainly handy. As the story goes, the spread of this gene through populations in some parts of the world coincided with the rise in dairy farming. In turn, this enabled people to get more protein and fat in their diets, grow healthy and strong, and outcompete the non-milk drinking populations around them. But the latest research suggests that this neat evolutionary Just So story may not be true.
Kevin Mitchell: how much of our personality is innate?
Where does our personality come from? Obviously our brains have a lot to do with it, but is it genetic differences in our brains that lead to differences in how we think? Is it all in our upbringing and childhood experiences? Or is it something else? To tackle this question, we sit down with Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of the book Innate: How the wiring of our brains shapes who we are.
Rohin Francis: one small step for a heart
Dr Sally Le Page chats with cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis, from the YouTube channel MedLife Crisis, about the groundbreaking operation this year transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into a human, and the ethics of such a procedure.
Angelika Schnieke: making pigs more human
Dr Kat Arney chats with Professor Angelika Schnieke from the Technical University of Munich about how we create genetically modified pigs suitable for producing organ transplants for humans, and how we can avoid getting more than we bargained for from pigs.
Doug Williams: Taming the toxicity of cancer drugs
By targeting drugs directly to tumours, exosome therapies can reduce side effects from cancer treatment
Davide Zocco: From Petri dish to patients
Exosomes are exciting treatments of the future - but how are they made?
Rossella Crescitelli: What are exosomes and what can they do?
Once thought to be little more than ‘dust’, exosomes are tiny biological mailbags that travel around the body.
Does cancer care about sex?
Presenter Kat Arney tells the story of how biomathematician Kristin Swanson discovered that cancer cells with XX chromosomes behave differently to cancer cells with XY chromosomes.
Paige Harden: The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA matters for social equality
Professor Paige Harden talks about her new book, The Genetic Lottery, and how our genes shape our lives.
Why don’t elephants get cancer? The curious case of TP53
A family trip to the zoo led Josh Schiffman to uncover the reason why elephants hardly ever develop cancer
Reyna Gordon: Is there a ‘music gene’?
Reyna Gordon is combining neuroscience with genetics to understand more about musicality.