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PNAS Science Sessions

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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.

Last refreshed: July 22nd, 2025 at 7:07 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

A systems approach to drug development

Marc Kirschner discusses the goals of systems pharmacology.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Building new biological objects

Frances Arnold explains how she harnesses the power of evolution to create proteins and organisms with applications in medicine and in alternative energy.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Virus-fighting bacteria

Akiko Iwasaki explains how gut bacteria boost immunity to influenza virus.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Bugging the immune system

Sarkis Mazmanian talks about how gut bacteria interact with the immune system to influence health and disease.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Bacterial invisible ink

David Walt discusses his research on using fluorescent bacteria to send secret messages.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Gatekeepers of our immune system

2011 Nobel Prize winner Bruce Beutler talks about his discovery of the first mammalian innate immune receptors, our first line of defense against the threat of microorganisms.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Thwarting dengue transmission

Medical entomologist Scott O'Neill explains how an intracellular bacterium could help curb the spread of dengue virus.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Cancer immunotherapy comes of age

Cell biologist Ira Mellman discusses cancer immunotherapy at Genentech.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Revolutionizing microscopy

Changhuei Yang and Guoan Zheng talk about their inexpensive, lens-free biomedical imaging device, which could change the way we do microscopy.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Making physics palatable

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià and physicist David Weitz discuss the science of cooking.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

The benefits of gut bacteria

Lora Hooper talks about the complex bacterial ecosystem in our gut and its important role in metabolism and immunity.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Sackler Colloquium on the science of science communication

Baruch Fischhoff and Dietram Scheufele discuss the need for a scientific approach to the communication of science.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Making improved antibodies against HIV

Structural biologist Pamela Björkman explains how engineering improved versions of naturally occurring antibodies against HIV might make them promising therapeutic agents.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Roland Kanaar

Roland Kanaar explains how elevated temperature augments cancer treatment.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Merlin Hanauer

Merlin Hanauer discusses the benefits of protected areas.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Jacob Waldbauer

Cozzarelli Prize winner Jacob Waldbauer reconstructs the history of oxygen on Earth.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winners Robert Saye and James Sethian

Cozzarelli Prize winners Robert Saye and James Sethian introduce a numerical method to track complex motions.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner James Smith

Economist James Smith discusses the effect of childhood mental problems on adult life.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winners Erica Machlin Cox and Selena Sagan

Erica Machlin Cox and Selena Sagan discuss an unusual interaction that protects the hepatitis C virus from our body's defenses.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Life's building blocks

George Church discusses the potential of synthetic biology.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

The science of sleep

Erin Hanlon and Jeanne Duffy introduce their research on sleep, in a recording of the PNAS "Science of Sleep" event held in Washington, DC on March 14, 2012.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Rebooting damaged vocal cords

Robert Langer and Steven Zeitels describe a polymer gel that could help patients regain lost voice.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Drivers of embryonic development

Developmental biologist Cliff Tabin explains how genes shape the formation of organs.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Stem cells and diabetes

Can stem cells help cure Type 1 diabetes? Douglas Melton hopes to find out.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Sex-specific scientific reporting

Nancy Adler discusses the need for sex-specific scientific reporting and the role it has played in women's health over the last 20 years.

Jun 10, 2019•4 min

The science of fear - Part 2

Psychology experts Daniel Pine and Mark Wiederhold answer fear-related questions from the audience, in second of two recordings from PNAS's "The Science of Fear!" event held in Washington, DC on October 12, 2011.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

The science of fear - Part 1

Psychology experts Daniel Pine and Mark Wiederhold introduce their research on fear, in the first of two recordings from PNAS' "The Science of Fear!" event held in Washington, DC on October 12, 2011.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Catalysts for energy storage

Daniel Nocera discusses how efficient catalysts can help us store solar energy in the same way plants do.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Scent of a predator

Molecular biologist Stephen Liberles discusses how prey learn to recognize the scent of a predator.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Human lung on a chip

Donald Ingber discusses the "microfabrication" of human biological systems as a means to replace animal testing during drug development.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

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