In this episode, we focus on the microbiome and how it is increasingly linked to disease and illness. It seems that this is true for understanding the illness of the body and the brain. Dr Amir Minerbi, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel talks to us about how the microbiome may hold the secrets of fibromyalgia. This chronic disorder causes widespread pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and potentially dozens of other...

In this second episode in a two-part series on organ-on-a-chip technology, we sit down with Christos Michas, R&D scientist and engineer at Curi Bio, and Alice White, professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University. Christos and Alice are taking the organ on a chip to another level with the miniPUMP, a heart on a chip which is the first step in understanding the interaction of therapeutic drugs with the heart. As cardiac disease is one of the leading causes of death in the...

In this first in a two-part series on organ on a chip technology, we discuss with Jan Turner, formerly part of Safer Medicines Trust, how these organoids can help us move away from the inefficient animal model. Show notes Emulate study on LiverTox - Liver-Chip Publication | Qualifying a human Liver-Chip for predictive toxicology (emulatebio.com) Keywords: chips, drugs, organ, human, model, cells, technology, testing, animal models, animal testing, microbiome, preclinical testing, animal,...

We have a lot of information at our fingertips, so how do we make sense of it all, especially in human health? Conor and Dodi speak to two experts who are making sense of this information overload by creating genetic and genomic databases.  Dr Artem Babaian, a computational biologist and now Assistant Professor leading The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms at the University of Toronto, explains how he and his team uncovered 100,000 novel viruses in old genetic data that could help us...

Within the life sciences industry, there has been a longstanding conversation around one of the industry’s most difficult challenges. That challenge is talent. In more detail, it is that the access to a global talent pool remains difficult. In this longer than usual conversation, Conor and Dodi speak with Darrin Morrissey, CEO of NIBRT, Anne-Cecile Potmans, general manager of Fast Trak and CDMO services at Cytiva, and Nikki Soares, global talent acquisition leader at Cytiva. We discuss how...

Plastic and pollution are two issues that impact our planet. It would be easy to despair but once again biology has come to save us. The Alper Lab at University of Texas at Austin has engineered a plastic-eating enzyme which can shorten plastic degradation from hundreds of years to 48 hours. We speak to Dr Hal Alper, Professor in Chemical Engineering at UT at Austin, who engineered this heroic enzyme. We also speak to Marco Poletto, director and co-founder of EcoLogic studio, which is a...

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a relatively new approach to determine the viral make up in any given area. Using chemical analysis of pollutants and biomarkers in raw wastewater, the level of exposure to certain pathogens can be assessed. This technique was used during the pandemic, which has helped realize its potential in public healthcare policy. We speak to Prof. Dominic Frigon, a specialist of biological wastewater resource recovery at McGill University, who used this technique in...

This episode is all about special blood and transplants. We speak to Jon Adkins, co-founder of XenoTherapeutics, who walks us through their use of xenotransplantation for skin grafts and organ transplantation. We are also joined by Dr. Franck Zal, a marine biologist, CSO and CEO of Hemarina, to discuss the lugworm. His discovery, that the lugworms’ blood is compatible with human blood, means it can be used in medical applications for transplants. Join us for this eye-opening and insightful...

In this episode, we contemplate the combatting the devastating disease that Alzheimer’s is. According to a recent report by the Alzheimer’s Disease International, an estimated 50 million people are living with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. We talk to two experts leading two respective early-stage studies into possible treatments for Alzhemier’s. One study looks at the tackling of tau proteins, another looks at treating aging rather than the disease itself. Join us for this fascinating...

The pandemic has been a global issue, which has benefitted from the coming together of industry, pharma, academia, non-governmental and governmental support. What the pandemic has also brought into sharp focus is the global imbalance access to healthcare and health inequity between the Global North and Global South. For this important conversation, we are joined by Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation about the current situation with HIV and...

We know meat is problematic for the environment, and seafood has its own issues with overfishing, so do we have to wave goodbye to the foods we love? Well, what if we told you that there are substitutes which you can enjoy without sacrificing taste and texture? We start with mycoprotein, in the form of the well-known meat substitute products of Quorn Foods. Tim Finnigan, Chief Scientific Advisor for Quorn Foods, explains why mycoprotein is such a suitable source of protein, how it is...

According to Jacob Moe-Lange from California Cultured, and Natasha Haveman from the UF Space Plant Lab, genetically modified food is the future. Both discuss the way that food is grown and how that is changing. Jacob takes us through cell-cultured chocolate and the environmental and humanitarian benefits. Natasha forces our gaze upwards to the plant experiments happening in spaceflight conditions, where scientists are learning how plants adapt to new environmental stresses. In this episode,...

Fungi are amazing in so many ways, and after learning that they could be used to build habitat on Mars, we have this bonus episode to go into home these mushrooms can be used on Earth. Chris Maurer, principal architect at redhouse studios, explains that he has been using mushrooms to make building materials in low-resource environments in Namibia. These materials prove even better than concrete. Join Dodi and Conor for this episode on a truly amazing use of biology to solve our...

March is the month of the Woman, and to celebrate International Women’s Day we speak with two agents of change who are passionate about opportunity and diversity within the sciences. Ruchi Sharma, CEO and Founder of Stemnovate Limited, and Sabrina Fleurimé, drug product development scientist and Corporate Partnership Director at BBSTEM, talk to us about what we can all do to become agents of change. Ruchi Sharma is recognized as one of the ones to watch entrepreneurs in the health industry,...

Sustained life and colonization in space is closer than ever, and biology holds the key. Biomimetic processes have applications for water filtration and for building homes on Mars. Jörg Vogel, VP of Open Innovation at Aquaporin, discusses how their Aquaporin Inside® Membrane Technology will help filter condensate and urine to make drinking water for astronauts. We are also joined by Chris Maurer, an architect and founder of redhouse studios in Cleveland, Ohio. Chris is working on a project...

Meet Discovery Maker Mustapha Bittaye, a postdoctoral researcher at the Jenner Institute who helped create the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Born in The Gambia, a scholarship took Mustapha to the UK to study Microbial Proteomics, and from then onwards he has made truly amazing contributions to human health globally. Conor and Dodi examine Mustapha’s story, truly brilliant mind, and how he is looking to the future. 

What better way to start off 2022 than with a return to our Discovery Makers series. We celebrate discovery by talking to the scientists changing the world one day at a time. This time we are joined by Sebastian Falk. What drives a scientist? Well, according to Sebastian Falk, it is curiosity that drives him. Sebastian is a structural biologist who is leading a research group investigating the structure and function of proteins, and how they work in RNA metabolism. In line with his...

As 2022 rolls around the corner, we look back on the amazing topics we covered in 2021. Conor and Dodi were set an assignment to choose their favorite episode of the year, but as this was such a jam-packed year it made it very hard for them to complete their assignment. But as in all things, they delivered. From fungi forays to an eye-opening conversation with Dr Joan Reede, President of the BSCP, Dodi and Conor discuss the best moments of the year, with a little input from the production...

For this episode of Discovery Matters we are focusing on industry surveys and what they can tell us. This includes BioPlan and the Biopharma Resilience Index. Both huge reports providing insight into both the issues and opportunities facing the industry today. Firman Ghouze, Cytiva’s Marketing Director in APAC, explains how the Biopharma Resilience Index came about, the industry issues it uncovers and potential solutions. We are also joined by Eric Langer, from BioPlan Associates, to discuss...

Single-cell sequencing is a technology that is giving us new genomic capabilities. Dr. Luciano Martelotto joins us to explain how single-cell sequencing allows scientists to understand cells as building blocks, much like LEGO™, which form part of a much bigger structure such as an organ, a tissue, a disease, and so forth. Dr. James McLaren utilizes this technology to look at septicemia; in his work he is using single-cell analysis to better understand sepsis and to develop a rapid diagnostic...

We’ve talked about slime, seaweed, mushrooms, and now creepy crawlies. Insects are important biotech engines for medicines and meals. Algenex are using insect pupa to produce recombinant proteins that can be used for vaccines, which also has the potential to replace less sustainable raw materials. Insects are also excellent food sources, not just for bush tucker trials, but Dr. Daylan Tzompa-Sosa explains that insect lipids can make doughnuts, croissants, oils, and hummus! Join Dodi, Conor...

We talk a lot about beginnings on Discovery Matters, but what about actually getting biologic drugs to people? Once the biologic is produced, aseptic filling and hybrid glass and plastic vials help to protect the biologic drug and the patient. Join Dodi, Conor and their guests, Chris Weikart the Chief Scientist at SiO2 Material Science, and Ross Gold one of the founders of Cytiva's aseptic filling business, in the latest episode of Discovery Matters, talking about the end of the workflow.

Who (in the scientific community) would have guessed that mRNA would be such a popular word in everyone's vocabulary one day? Well, as Conor puts it, "all the research by the people on the edges of the scientific community for the past 20 years are really paying dividends." Join Dodi, Conor and their guests in the latest episode of Discovery Matters, talking about mRNA revolutionising the genomics field.

In this episode of Discovery Matters, enter into the world of slime: seaweed, agar and algae. Algae gave us the atmosphere that we have today and is still coming to our aid against climate change. Photobiologist Peter Ralph, who once called himself Dr. Death, explains how algae has given him newfound hope to fight climate change. Join Conor and Dodi for this fascinating episode!

In this episode of Discovery Matters, enter into the world of slime: seaweed, agar and algae. Algae gave us the atmosphere that we have today and is still coming to our aid against climate change. Photobiologist Peter Ralph, who once called himself Dr. Death, explains how algae has provided him with newfound hope to fight climate change. Join Conor and Dodi for this fascinating episode!