We’re celebrating the actual birthday of the society - founded on the 25th June, 100 years ago - with past president, Nobel laureate and winner of the Genetics Society’s first centenary medal, Sir Paul Nurse (and some very fruity DNA-based cocktails...) Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and 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 applicati...
Jul 04, 2019•27 min•Ep. 17
In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re unravelling the story of the double helix, cracking the triplet code, and sketching out a Punnet square. Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and 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. Production by Hannah Varrall. Full show notes, music...
Jun 20, 2019•26 min•Ep. 16
In this episode of Genetics Unzipped, reporter Graihagh Jackson loses herself in the Valley of Hybridisation at the Genetics Society's medal-winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and discover the importance of playing with your genes. Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and 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...
Jun 06, 2019•22 min•Ep. 15
In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re taking the train to London with William Bateson as he brings Mendel's ideas to Britain, seeking the secrets of snapdragons, and discovering how to build an army of MinIONs. Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and 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 gene...
May 23, 2019•19 min•Ep. 14
The first draft of the human genome came with a price tag running into billions of dollars. In less than twenty years, the cost of whole genome sequencing had plummeted, making the thousand dollar genome a reality by 2014, and opening up a consumer market for personal genome sequencing - although as geneticist Elaine Mardis quipped, it’s a $1000 genome, and a £100,000 analysis. The price for sequencing continues to fall, and several companies are vying to be the first to break the hundred dollar...
May 09, 2019•34 min•Ep. 13
In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we explore the discovery of chromosomes - the strands of genetic material within every living cell - take a look at Lyonisation, and solve the case of the missing chromosomes. Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and 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 genetic...
Apr 25, 2019•28 min•Ep. 12
In this episode we ask, what would have happened if Darwin had read Mendel? And what if they’d been on Twitter? Plus, something else that Darwin would have loved: an ambitious project to sequence the DNA of everything across the tree of life. Presented by Kat Arney, with Greg Radick (University of Leeds) and Dan Mead (Wellcome Sanger Institute). Full transcript, notes and references available from GeneticsUnzipped.com...
Apr 11, 2019•31 min•Ep. 11
Kat Arney tells the stories of four women from the history of 20th century genetics, and explores how sexism in scientific culture led to their achievements being overlooked. There's Esther Lederberg, whose work on phage Lambda paved the way for her husband Joshua's 1958 Nobel Prize. She was also the inventor of replica plating - a technique still used in microbiology labs all over the world today - yet struggled to get tenure and recognition for her work. Harriet Creighton, the first graduate s...
Mar 28, 2019•31 min•Ep. 10
In this episode we bring you a very special interview with Mary-Claire King - one of the world’s leading geneticists, whose work has spanned everything from comparing chimps and humans to finding the first breast cancer gene to reuniting families that have been torn apart. Get the full transcript, links and references from https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/3/14/009-chimps-cancer-genes-and-missing-kids Produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society. Written and presented by Kat ...
Mar 14, 2019•33 min•Ep. 9
This is a special edition of Genetics Unzipped, in association with the Genomics Education programme - part of Health Education England. We’ll be finding out how genomic medicine is coming into the NHS, and what it means for everyone working in the health service. Since the publication of the draft sequence of the human genome back in the early noughties, researchers and doctors have been working hard to harness the secrets within our DNA in order to benefit human health. Progress was slow for s...
Mar 04, 2019•36 min•Ep. 8
In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re entering the glamorous world of modelling, taking a look at the eclectic collection of model organisms that have been put to work in the lab to reveal the secrets of biology. Full transcript and notes online: https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/2/28/007-supermodels-of-science
Feb 28, 2019•20 min•Ep. 7
We’re looking at the genetics of failure - why we fail to lose weight thanks to our genes, and why billions of dollars are wasted developing drugs that don’t work. Full show notes and transcript available at https://geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2019/2/14/006-big-fat-failure
Feb 14, 2019•31 min•Ep. 6
Genetics Unzipped is the Genetics Society podcast. Written and presented by Dr Kat Arney, produced by Hannah Varrall for First Create the Media. Full show notes available online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/
Jan 31, 2019•19 min•Ep. 5
In this episode we’re taking a dive into the world of evolutionary genetics to witness the fitness - we ask whether street smart city-dwelling birds are genetically different from their country bumpkin relatives, how butterflies got their brightly patterned wings, and if today’s genetic research would have blown Darwin’s mind. Full show notes and references online at https://geneticsunzipped.com/
Jan 17, 2019•32 min•Ep. 4
In this episode from our series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re hunting down Huntington’s disease, discovering why viruses are so important for geneticists, and chasing the science behind spidergoats.
Jan 03, 2019•28 min•Ep. 3
behind the scenes at the iconic Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with Professors Alice Roberts and Aoife McLysaght - plus the fire-obsessed demonstration expert Fran Scott - to find the answer to the question “Who am I?”
Dec 20, 2018•32 min•Ep. 2
Big news! Genetics Unzipped is a new podcast from the Genetics Society, taking a look at the world of genes, genomes and DNA. Here's a quick teaser from our first episode, featuring Alice Roberts, Aoife McLysaght and Fran Scott, taking a sneak peek behind the scenes at the 2018 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. More info online at geneticsunzipped.com
Dec 12, 2018•5 min•Ep. 1
