Genetics Unzipped

Robin Ince sits down for a chat with Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at UCL. Steve is one of the foremost and most popular science writers on the subject of evolution and genetics and is also a world-leading expert on snails.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

We look back over our favourite bits from the podcast over the year, from dark family secrets revealed by genetic testing to the secret scientific history of bird poop.

Jack Nunn - hidden family secrets revealed Listen to the full episode

The bird poop boom Listen to the full episode

Ewen’s angry birds Listen to the full episode

Darwin’s finches Listen to the full episode

Sarah Tishkoff Listen to the full episode

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall, with additional research and scripting by Emily Nordvang and reporting by Georgia Mills.

This podcast 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.

We take a look at the progress that’s been made in tackling rare genetic disorders (and the challenges that remain) and we hear from a prenatal genetic counsellor about how new tests are helping people carrying genetic variations make decisions about starting a family.

With Dr Ron Jortner (founder and CEO of Masthead Biosciences and trustee of the Cambridge Rare Disease Network) and Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com.

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney with audio production by Hannah Varrall.

This podcast 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.

Over the first four episodes of this series we’ve looked at COVID-19, historic epidemics, human evolution and the human genome and in each episode we’ve invariably talked about ‘sequencing’. Sequencing genomes and DNA of living things. So we thought it time to discuss the very act of sequencing itself. What is it, how do we do it, why do we do it and how can we get better at as technology improves.

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Professor Jay Shendure is a human geneticist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and is one of the world’s pioneers in exome sequencing. Dr Lucy Van Dorp is a Senior Research Fellow at the University College London Genomic Institute working on infectious diseases and ancient DNA. And Professor Mark Blaxter is an evolutionary biologist at the Sanger Institute where he’s the Leader of the Tree of Life Project.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Every couple of months we gather a new panel of experts for a Q&A on where things are at with our current understanding of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With so much misinformation out there it’s important that you, the public and viewers, get a change to ask a panel of experts directly and unfiltered.

For this, volume 3 of our COVID-19 Q&As Robin is joined by three experts. Dr Emma Hodcroft is a researcher at the University of Basel in Switzerland working on sequencing and builds of SARS-CoV-2. Dan Davis is a Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester and the best selling author of The Beautiful Cure. And Dr Nisreen Alwan is an epidemiologist and Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Southampton.

To view previous episodes in the Genetics Shambles series head to Cosmicshambles.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip