PNAS Science Sessions - podcast cover

PNAS Science Sessions

Welcome to Science Sessions, the PNAS podcast program. Listen to brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in PNAS, plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.
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Episodes

Scientific credibility, public exposure, and irate third-graders

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, host of "NOVA ScienceNOW," and the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium. Listen as Dr. Tyson discusses the balance between scientific credibility and public exposure, and the pitfalls of challenging Pluto's status as a planet.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Public science literacy, and race and gender bias in science education

Dr. Mae Jemison is a physician and scientist, who on September 12, 1992 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, became the world's first woman of color to travel into space. Listen as Dr. Jemison discusses race and gender bias in science education, and the importance of public science literacy.

Jun 07, 20195 min

The origin of malignant malaria

Dr. Nathan Wolfe is the Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University and Director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative. Listen as Dr. Wolfe discusses malaria and the parasites that cause it, and his research that determined the origin of malignant malaria in humans.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Adaptation and Evolution: The Life of an RNA Virus

Edward C. Holmes is a professor of biology and a Distinguished Senior Scholar in the Eberly College of Science at the Pennsylvania State University. Listen as Dr. Holmes discusses his research on using comparative genomics to study the genetic evolution of RNA viruses.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Privacy and Social Security numbers

Alessandro Acquisti is an Associate Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Listen as Dr. Acquisti discusses his research in the economics of privacy and his 2009 PNAS research article on predicting Social Security numbers.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Fundamentals of environmental economics

Maureen Cropper is an economics professor at the University of Maryland and a former lead economist at the World Bank. Listen as Dr. Cropper discusses her research in environmental economics and her 2008 election into the National Academy of Sciences.

Jun 07, 20195 min

The future and stem cells

James Thomson is best known for his pioneering work that isolated and cultured non-human primate and human embryonic stem cells. Listen as Dr. Thomson discusses his research and the future of stem cells in medical uses ranging from drug discovery, transplantation, and as a basic research tool.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Simulating material behavior

Emily Carter's work merges quantum mechanics, applied mathematics, and solid state physics to create simulations of various molecules and materials. Listen as Dr. Carter discusses her research and her 2008 election to the National Academy of Sciences.

Jun 07, 20196 min

Human expansion out of Africa

Richard Klein served as editor for the PNAS Special Feature titled "Out of Africa". This collection of articles explores the historical expansion of Homo sapiens from Africa to Eurasia. The Special Feature, along with an editorial by Dr. Klein, will publish in the September 22 issue of PNAS.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Seeing inside cells

Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz's laboratory at the National Institutes of Health works to characterize the fundamental principles governing protein geography and movement within cells. Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz talks about her work and her recent election to the National Academy of Sciences.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Interview with Randy Schekman

Randy Schekman, the PNAS Editor-in-Chief, discusses the selection process and history of the Cozzarelli Prize. The Cozzarelli Prize is given annually to six outstanding PNAS articles, each representing one of the major disciplines of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Stem cells in neuromedicine

Fred Gage is a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. In this podcast, Dr. Gage talks about the subtleties involved as researchers explore how to use stem cells to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

Jun 07, 20197 min

Malaria and vector research

Thomas Wellems is the head of the Malaria and Vector Research Unit at the National Institutes of Health. In this episode, he discusses the advances made in the fight against malaria and the problems that still remain.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Inside Science

Bruce Alberts is the former President of the National Academy of Sciences and the current editor-in-chief of Science . In this podcast, Dr. Alberts talks about how he generates ideas for editorials, how Science approaches issues of scientific misconduct, and his opinion on the proliferation of journals worldwide.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Examining Proceedings

PNAS is one of the world's most-cited multidisciplinary scientific journals and has been published by the National Academies since 1915. This podcast, part of the Sounds of Science produced by the National Academies, looks at the history and future of this publication with Ken Fulton, publisher of PNAS.

Jun 07, 201911 min

Interview with Pamela J. Fraker

Pamela J. Fraker was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007. She is known for her investigations of the impact of nutritional deficiencies, particularly of zinc, on immune defense. Her work provided evidence that deficiency in protein--calories causes a decline in antibody and cell mediated responses, which leads to higher rates of infection, poor wound healing, and other adverse impacts in the malnourished and those with chronic disease.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Interview with Ran Nathan

Ran Nathan organized the Movement Ecology Special Feature for PNAS. He is an associate professor and the chair of the department of Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem, Israel.

Jun 07, 20195 min

Interview with Nina Fedoroff

Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990 for her work in the field of Plant Biology, Nina Fedoroff is a pioneer in the molecular aspects of plant transposable elements. Building upon the work of Barbara McClintock, she elucidated the sequence of some of these elements, demonstrated their utility for gene cloning and was instrumental in converting the study of plant transposable elements into one accessible by molecular techniques.

Jun 07, 20196 min
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