Episódios

  • The extraordinary promise of gene editing

    The extraordinary promise of gene editing
    May 22 2025
    Doctors in the US have become the first to treat a baby with a customised gene-editing therapy after diagnosing the child with a severe genetic disorder that kills about half of those affected in early infancy. Ian Sample explains to Madeleine Finlay how this new therapy works and how it paves the way for even more complex gene editing techniques. David Liu, a professor at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the inventor of these therapies, also describes the barriers that could prevent them reaching patients, and how he thinks they can be overcome. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    17 minutos
  • The latest twist in a Canadian medical mystery

    The latest twist in a Canadian medical mystery
    May 20 2025
    In March 2021, the Toronto-based reporter Leyland Cecco heard about a memo sent by New Brunswick health officials that warned about a possible unknown neurological syndrome thought to be affecting about 40 people. Since then the story has taken many twists and turns, most recently with a peer-reviewed study that concludes there is no mystery illness after all. Cecco tells Madeleine Finlay about the devastating symptoms that patients experienced, and why the research is unlikely to resolve the conflict over what has been causing them. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    19 minutos
  • Is it time to try geoengineering?

    Is it time to try geoengineering?
    May 15 2025
    Geoengineering, the controversial set of techniques that aim to deliberately alter the Earth’s climate system, may be inching a step closer to reality with the announcement that UK scientists will be conducting real-world experiments in the coming years. To understand what’s happening, Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian environment editor Damian Carrington. Damian explains what the experiments will entail and why scientists are so divided on whether pursuing this research is a good idea. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    14 minutos
  • Have we got the appendix all wrong?

    Have we got the appendix all wrong?
    May 13 2025
    For a long time the appendix was considered disposable. After all, millions of people have theirs removed each year and go on to live healthy lives. But as Heather F Smith, a professor of anatomy at Midwestern University tells Ian Sample, researchers are increasingly understanding what this small worm-shaped organ may be bringing to the table in terms of our health. Smith explains how the appendix is linked to both our immune system development and gut health, and why she thinks an increasing interest in the microbiome may bring it to greater prominence. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    13 minutos
  • Surviving 200 snake bites, decoding ancient scrolls and the countries ‘flourishing’

    Surviving 200 snake bites, decoding ancient scrolls and the countries ‘flourishing’
    May 8 2025
    Science correspondent Hannah Devlin joins Ian Sample to discuss three intriguing science stories from the week, from a global study that puts the UK third from bottom when it comes to flourishing, to a man who intentionally suffered more than 200 snake bites in the quest to find a universal antivenom and a breakthrough in the quest to understand the contents of the charred Herculaneum scrolls buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    21 minutos
  • How old are we really? What a test can tell us about our biological age

    How old are we really? What a test can tell us about our biological age
    May 6 2025
    Direct to consumer tests that claim to tell us our biological – as opposed to chronological – age are getting a lot of attention, but what can they really tell us about our health? Science editor Ian Sample talks to Dr Brian H Chen, an epidemiologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, who has conducted research into a variety of these tests called epigenetic clocks. He explains what exactly they are measuring and whether, once we have the results, there are any evidence-based strategies we can adopt to lower our biological age. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    16 minutos
  • Why did Spain and Portugal go dark?

    Why did Spain and Portugal go dark?
    May 1 2025
    Authorities are still trying to understand what triggered the massive power outage that left the majority of the Iberian Peninsula without electricity on Monday. To understand what might have been at play, and whether there’s any truth to claims that renewable energy sources were to blame, Ian Sample hears from Guardian energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose. And Guardian European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam explains what it was like to experience the blackout and how people reacted. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    16 minutos
  • Why did Just Stop Oil just stop?

    Why did Just Stop Oil just stop?
    Apr 29 2025
    Just Stop Oil, the climate activism group behind motorway blockades, petrol station disruption and tomato soup attacks on major artworks, has disbanded after staging a final action in London this weekend. To find out why the group has decided to hang up the famous orange high-vis, Madeleine Finlay hears from our environment correspondent Damien Gayle who has been covering Just Stop Oil since its inception. He explains how policy wins and policing crackdowns combined to bring the movement to a close, and what the future of climate activism could look like in its wake. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    18 minutos