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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

Heart regeneration

Hesham Sadek explains the regenerative capability of newborn mouse hearts.

Jun 11, 2019•5 min

Global collaboration against HIV

Ambassador Deborah Birx discusses international efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Jun 11, 2019•6 min

Molecular profiling of cancer

Elaine Mardis discusses how next generation sequencing technology is helping the Pan-Cancer Initiative gain a molecular understanding of cancer.

Jun 11, 2019•6 min

Growing stem cells in 3D

David Schaffer describes how to culture human stem cells in a fully-defined, scalable 3D medium.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Astrocytes and ALS

Brian Kaspar discusses the role of astrocyte cells in the motor neuron disease ALS.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Taming an unwieldy cancer target

Frank McCormick discusses a National Cancer Institute-led effort to turn a well-known cancer-causing protein into a viable drug target.

Jun 10, 2019•4 min

Genetic switchboards

James Collins explains how researchers can rewire bacterial cells and control multiple genes simultaneously within a single cell.

Jun 10, 2019•4 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winner Francesco Pennacchio

Francesco Pennacchio explains how neonicotinoid insecticides can influence the immune response of honey bees.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winner Caroline Roullier

Caroline Roullier and colleagues won the 2013 Cozzarelli Prize in Behavioral and Social Sciences for their work on the distribution of sweet potatoes in Oceania.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winners Yoel Sadovsky and Carolyn Coyne

Yoel Sadovsky and Carolyn Coyne describe the placenta's role in protecting the fetus from infection by viruses.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winner Tad Patzek

Tad Patzek explains how natural gas production declines over time in hydrofractured wells.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winners Mimi Kao and Allison Doupe

Mimi Kao and Allison Doupe explore song learning in the male zebra finch.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Interview with 2013 Cozzarelli Prize Winners Erik Petigura and Geoffrey Marcy

Erik Petigura and Geoffrey Marcy discuss the number of Earth-like planets that may exist in our galaxy.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Modeling human cognition

James "Jay" McClelland describes a parallel distributed processing approach to understanding human cognition.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Exchanging kidneys

Alvin Roth discusses how principles of economics can benefit people who need kidney transplants.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Nicotine addiction and relapse

Inés Ibañez-Tallon discusses how nicotine and neurons conspire to hamper efforts to quit smoking.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Where breast cancer meets brain size

Inder Verma and colleagues describe how a breast cancer-associated gene might be implicated in brain size control in mammals.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Supernova chemistry

Paul Dunk discusses the chemistry of carbon in space following a supernova.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

The postdoctoral problem

NAS member Gregory Petsko discusses efforts to assess the US postdoctoral workforce.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Understanding citrus greening

Ariena van Bruggen and J. Glenn Morris, Jr. discuss their work on citrus greening, a disease that is threatening the global citrus industry.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Genetic screening for adults

C. Thomas Caskey and Amy McGuire discuss whole-genome genetic screening for adult-onset diseases.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Synthesizing fuels and chemicals from CO2

James Liao talks about engineering microorganisms to synthesize fuels and chemicals from CO2.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Speech perception and language acquisition in infants

Janet Werker describes how exposure to speech and environmental factors can affect language acquisition by infants.

Jun 10, 2019•4 min

Menopause, mitochondria, and memory

Neuroscientists John Morrison and Yuko Hara talk about the links between estrogen, mitochondria, and age-related cognitive decline.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

A microbial map for wine

David Mills discusses regional differences in microbes found in grape must.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Building better batteries

Yi Cui discusses how nanometerials are improving the energy storage capacity of batteries.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

History of alcohol in human diet

Steven Benner discusses the interaction between early humans and alcohol.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

Tracing development in color

Scott Fraser discusses tools to glean a multicolored view of embryonic development.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

Changing the way we think about antibiotics

Deborah Hung talks about identifying new approaches for treating and diagnosing infectious diseases.

Jun 10, 2019•5 min

How humans may have evolved intelligence

Steven Pinker explains the idea of a cognitive niche, which may have facilitated the evolution of human intelligence.

Jun 10, 2019•6 min

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