Petri Dish

On this second episode about drug discovery, we discuss small molecule drug libraries and the challenges behind rational design! Don't know what that means? Tune in to find out! References: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2019.00107/full https://next.cancer.gov/discoveryresources/resources_ndl.htm https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mbc.E22-08-0377 https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-gene-therapy-treatment-certain-patients-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/gene-therapy/crispr-therapeutics-vertex-exa-cel https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/crispr-timeline

Hey everyone! Today's episode is about getting into the nitty gritty of drug discovery. We often benefit from the research and development that goes into the creation of drugs we use to treat illnesses without really understanding what goes into that process. In this first part, we will discuss how you conceptually begin the process. References: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd2399 https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/zolgensma https://cancerci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12935-019-0806-1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519062/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128191828000338 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006291X89926788?via%3Dihub https://www.nature.com/articles/362841a0 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305737220300554

Sorry for the COVID-related break in episodes everyone! In our return, we complete our series on influenza by discussing past epidemics and pandemics to understand how influenza has repeatedly led to large scale medical events. Then we will finish by discussing the current and future state of influenza vaccines! References: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmp058281 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08157 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16208372/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5578040/ https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-influenza-vaccination https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2020/20200623-wilson-universalflu.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2022-2023.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7159335/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro.2017.118 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0042682278901538 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/flushot.htm https://www.science.org/content/article/innovative-universal-flu-vaccine-shows-promises-it-first-clinical-test https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz5143 https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/using-mrna-technology-universal-flu-vaccine

You've had the flu. You've had a cold. Maybe you've even had allergies! But how can you tell them apart? And if you even figure out that you do have influenza, are there any treatments you can take that can help? References: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/gastroenteritis-in-adults-a-to-z https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/182/4/294/113092 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/irv.12515 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2014/10/cold-flu-or-allergy https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000221 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7150a4.htm https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/lucira-health-files-bankruptcy-it-receives-eua-home-covid-19-flu-test https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-first-over-counter-home-test-detect-both-influenza-and-covid-19-viruses https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39683-4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3108042/ https://www.cdc.gov/flu/treatment/antiviralresistance.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404498/ https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/11/1/183 https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(21)00260-X/fulltext

Last episode we discussed the current H5N1 flu that is hitting birds pretty hard. But is bird flu different from swine flu? Is there just a 'human flu', or do we only catch influenza from other animals? Let's get into the evolutionary history of the flu and primary hosts! References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7328453/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8611/ https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JVI.01080-14 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7268205/ https://www.woah.org/en/disease/avian-influenza/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784916/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00131/full https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1176225 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32967956/

Today's episode is the first in a four-part series on influenza! This time we are covering just enough background information to discuss the recent H5N1 pandemic in birds, which was responsible for the egg shortage and has been killing a lot of wild birds. References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074182/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198887/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6520700/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2021.727847/full https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2801499 https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai_20230331.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/reported-human-infections.htmhttps://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-animals.htm https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/2022-hpai https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.9.2300134?crawler=true https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/spectrum.02867-22 https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/efsa-ecdc-eurl-ongoing-avian-influenza-outbreaks-birds-low-risk-public https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.3.2300001 https://perspectivesinmedicine.cshlp.org/content/11/2/a038679.short https://journals.plos.org/Plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011135

Sure, plants can sometimes smell good and they do cool stuff like make carbs for us to eat and oxygen for us to breathe. But they sort of look like they're just passively sitting there, right? Just chilling. If only we could hear just a slightly broader range of frequencies, we would hear a whole new world of plants -- one where they are complaining about being thirsty! Find out about the screaming clicks of dying plants, this week on Petri Dish! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00890-9 https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(23)00262-3.pdf https://agrivita.ub.ac.id/index.php/agrivita/article/view/2613 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13331 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6899487/

Hi everyone! This week's episode is about recent work trying to figure out a way to make a baby mouse that has two genetic dads. We also dive into why mammals don't seem to have virgin births!References: https://www.nature.com/articles/cr201115 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17034046/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02402 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11435 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00717-7 https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.abe0237 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-3027-9

Today's episode is our second and final episode on Black Holes! We cover some exotic black hole concepts, like whether they are a source of dark energy, what a white hole is, and whether black holes are fuzzy or not! References: https://www.science.org/content/article/dark-energy-supermassive-black-holes-physicists-spar-over-radical-idea https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/acac2e https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acb704 https://physicsworld.com/a/new-theory-links-supermassive-black-holes-and-dark-energy/ https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/409/3/1022/1097516 https://esahubble.org/wordbank/quasar/https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/white-holes-exist/ https://www.space.com/white-holes.html https://astronomy.com/news/2022/02/fuzzballs-might-be-the-answer-to-a-decades-old-paradox-about-black-holes https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/s110

Here in our first episode on our 2-parter on Black Holes, we explain what a black hole is in theory and what it probably actually is in practice. We dive into why it is still hard for us to really know what the true nature of black holes are and we discuss the different kinds of black holes.References: https://forums.space.com/threads/how-to-calculate-a-black-hole%E2%80%99s-event-horizon.27467/ https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/49957/do-schwarzschild-black-holes-exist-in-reality https://www.reedbeta.com/blog/emc2-is-only-half-the-story/ https://medium.com/predict/the-black-hole-made-of-light-5494e972abab https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/lifecycles/LC_main3.html https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab2646 https://www.wired.com/story/where-do-supermassive-black-holes-come-from/

In February, a train was partially derailed while carrying a number of chemicals. The subsequent attempt at containment resulted in the release of many thousands of gallons of these chemicals. What were those chemicals? What are the risks involved in their release? References: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20230214.aspx https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0002889718506429 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412007001390 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421030533 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es1013664#https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/3/617 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935105001921 https://news.wosu.org/2023-03-01/could-dioxins-be-in-the-soil-after-the-east-palestine-train-derailment-experts-weigh-in

On this week's episode, we complete our series on desalination by discussing the near future technologies that are coming to either improve or attempt to supplant the current front runners that we discussed last week. We will also discuss the downsides of desalination and work that is being done to try to minimize or circumvent them! References: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/five-things-know-about-desalination https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/department-energy-invests-5-million-desalination-technology-deliver-freshwater https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-water-scarcity-increases-desalination-plants-are-on-the-rise https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04467-3 https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/23659/chapter/14#66 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022200118 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871271109002049 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032117307086 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-018-0020-z https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135421003523 https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2011/523124/ https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/8/901 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444639615000092 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001191642100254X https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-022-00158-1

Hi Everyone! We're interrupting our series on desalination to put out a quick rerelease of one of our episodes on Fungi! We're doing this in honor of the season 1 finale of The Last of Us, which heavily features a fungus called Cordyceps, which we covered in this episode. Check it out and learn more about cordyceps, similar fungi, and much nicer fungi that improve human life rather than turning us into freaky zombies.

Climate change is happening, two billion people don't have a reliable and safe supply of fresh water, and the problem isn't likely to get a whole lot better on its own! Desalination is the process of making fresh water from salt water, but what is the current state of the technology? Find out on this episode of Petri Dish! Next time, we will discuss the near-future iterations on desalination! References: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/saline-water-and-salinity https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6801928/ https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/where-earths-water https://water.ca.gov/water-basics/groundwater https://data.unicef.org/resources/progress-on-household-drinking-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-2000-2020/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001191642100254X https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/23659/chapter/14 https://phys.org/news/2019-08-technique-membranes-next-generation-filtration-desalination.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376738821002416 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916420313114

While science and medicine have come a long way over the centuries, there are still illnesses that cannot be explained -- and many of them are autoinflammatory disorders. Many people all over the world have been inflicted with these disorders with no clear cause. But recently, scientists were able to find a mutation that can help explain what some of these people are going through, a mutation that led to the identification of an autoinflammatory disorder now known as VEXAS. Tune in to learn more! References: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2026834 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrm.2017.83 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962892413002274 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006497121010223 https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/physrev.00004.2022 https://www.niams.nih.gov/labs/grayson-lab/vexas https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2800661 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjh.17893 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-022-01698-8 https://ashpublications.org/blood/article-abstract/140/8/927/485331/Ruxolitinib-is-more-effective-than-other-JAK https://ashpublications.org/bloodadvances/article/6/3/998/477726/Successful-allogeneic-hematopoietic-stem-cell

Occasionally we do episodes where we speak about a couple different topics that don't have a specific underlying theme -- they're just fun science papers that have cropped up recently! This time we discuss the confluence of two different hot technologies, CRISPR base editing and CAR T cells. We also do a little dive into Roman Concrete! References: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-63859184 https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/research/car-t-cells https://www.science.org/content/article/teen-s-leukemia-goes-remission-after-experimental-gene-editing-therapy https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add1602 https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-may-have-found-magic-ingredient-behind-ancient-romes-self-healing-concrete https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2017.22231

We return with our second episode on Death, the final frontier! What is it? Actually though, like what determines the moment when someone dies? This question has actually had a different answer through the years, and we dive into the definition and how it has changed as technology has advanced. We finish with an example of cutting-edge technology that may further muddy the line between alive and dead! References: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150508-what-happens-after-we-die https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167701214002127 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5570697/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6880073/ https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/history-of-cpr https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/deaths-troubled-relationship-law/2020-12 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05016-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02112-0 https://news.yale.edu/2022/08/03/yale-developed-technology-restores-cell-organ-function-pigs-after-death https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02060-9

On our first episode about Death, we look into a paper published a few years that described the reanimation of a pig brain! Spooky! Let's get into the science behind it and some of its implications for humans!

This winter season the world is dealing with not two but three respiratory illnesses at the same time. While these are familiar names at this point, they're definitely different from one another, so let's get into COVID, the flu, and RSV!

Hi Folks! Part 2 of our series on coffee focuses on how coffee beans can be imparted with different flavors through their picking and processing! We mentioned this in the show notes for the last episode, but we will be going on a couple month hiatus while Nathan and Stacey take a vacation in Korea! We will be re-releasing some of our older episodes in the meantime, in case people are really itching to listen to our dulcet tones. References: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13593-022-00801-8 https://perfectdailygrind.com/2018/01/coffee-defects-how-to-avoid-them-a-producers-guide/ https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/01/why-specialty-naturals-need-strict-quality-control/ https://www.baristainstitute.com/blog/jori-korhonen/january-2020/coffee-processing-methods-drying-washing-or-honey https://www.trianoncoffee.com/blogs/news/how-is-honey-processed-coffee-different-from-washed-or-natural https://ticotimes.net/2020/12/21/what-is-anaerobic-coffee https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/6/1329/htm https://gayokopi.com/history-of-kopi-luwak/

The first episode on our three part series is on the history of human consumption of coffee (as far as we know) and the several species of plant that can produce those sweet, sweet beans! As a note, we are going to be taking a hiatus after Pt 2 next week for Nathan and Stacey to take a well-earned break and enjoy some time in Korea! We are going to do re-releases of older episodes, so if you haven't heard some of our older stuff, we hope you enjoy! References: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coffee-consumption-by-country https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/05/coffee-isnt-worlds-2nd-most-traded-commodity-but-its-important/ https://cafealtura.com/ethiopia-coffee/ https://www.britannica.com/plant/Coffea https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jse.12694

In our second and final episode on viral hepatitis, we discuss Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C! One has a vaccine, the other can be treated with antivirals, but both can be pretty serious and bad if you aren't protected or treated. Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_hepb.asp https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(21)00073-X/fulltext https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-c/treatment/ https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hep.510290613 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227670 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955470X19300059

In our first episode of a two parter, we discuss what the liver does, what hepatitis is generally, and which hepatitis viruses cause acute issues! References: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-022-05375-0 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK13296/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227670 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482374/ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21481-liver https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/bilirubin-in-urine/ https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1516992112 https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/abc/index.htm https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/S0168-8278(21)02091-2/ https://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4019.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6496330/

Last week, we discussed a very big bacterium, one you can see with your naked eye! But back in high school we all learned that bacteria and prokaryotes in general were pretty simple cells and were definitely smaller than our cells. While we've found a lot of examples that push back against this idea, there is a fundamental truth behind it -- a simple cell has definite physical constraints on how big it can grow. What are those constraints? And how do these giant bacteria (and our own cells) get around these problems? References: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2008.0014 http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~lawler/reu.pdf https://www.science.org/content/article/largest-bacterium-ever-discovered-has-unexpectedly-complex-cells

In today's episode, we discuss a recent discovery of a reaaaaaally big bacteria, like way big! Big enough that you can see it without a microscope! Longer than a fruit fly! BIG! How can a bacteria get so big? What is going on there? Let's discuss it! References: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb3634 https://www.science.org/content/article/largest-bacterium-ever-discovered-has-unexpectedly-complex-cells

Sorry about the delay in this release folks! In this episode, we revisit the current unusual Monkeypox outbreak and dive into the DNA of this virus to try to understand why it is so much more global this time. Spoiler alert: the DNA currently doesn't have answers for us, but it seems to be mutating faster than normal! References: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html https://worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/mpx_global/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.28036 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.10.495526v1.full https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01907-y https://virological.org/t/initial-observations-about-putative-apobec3-deaminase-editing-driving-short-term-evolution-of-mpxv-since-2017/830 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107253/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/12/monkeypox-virus-origins-nigeria-sexual-transmission/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8310219/

In the second and final episode on our series on Caffeine, we dive into what acute caffeine toxicity can look like, along with other ways people can be sensitive to caffeine. We also discuss whether caffeine can be useful for giving you a boost while exercising! Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532910/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11419-021-00577-8 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230017302210 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934310010429 https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/95/1/241/4576611 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3200095/ https://bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-021-02411-5 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390805000122 https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/ACH-News/General-News/Is-Coffee-Bad-for-Kids https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2699625/ https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/apnea-of-prematurity https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-021-01521-x https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16423144/

First episode of our two-parter on caffeine! For such a small and unassuming molecule, this drug is really popular, consumed all over the world for millennia! What is caffeine? How does it work? We'll even begin to discuss why some people are more sensitive to caffeine than other people. References: https://coffeeaffection.com/coffee-cherry/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214750018303275 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3603218/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1884944/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-021-01521-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46931-0 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41105-020-00276-8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6947650/ https://www.nature.com/articles/1395880 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3368971

The world of Alzheimer's research has recently been rocked by very strong evidence of scientific misconduct and fraud, specifically relating to a historically relevant paper about amyloid beta oligomers as a potential cause of Alzheimer's Disease. There are a lot of nuances and complexities at play here, which we dive into! There are also some... not-nuances, like the fact that this fraud and wholesale fabrication of results was pretty brazen. Listen in and learn more! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04533 https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease

Hi folks! I know most people don't really want to hear it, but we have another disease running around the world besides COVID and the more you know the facts, the better you can do what you can to avoid it! Learn about monkeypox on this week's episode of Petri Dish! References: https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON390 https://www.science.org/content/article/monkeypox-outbreak-questions-intensify-cases-soar https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3901482/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22905-7 https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/58/2/260/335791?login=true https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(03)00856-9/fulltext https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/06/monkeypox-outbreak-spread-animal-hosts/661338/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3635111/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2867342/ https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/acam2000 https://www.science.org/content/article/there-s-shortage-monkeypox-vaccine-could-one-dose-instead-two-suffice https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309922002286

The final episode in our series on venom, we discuss how venom can be used in modern medicine before discussing some venomous reptiles. Then we finish up by talking about the very few and very strange venomous mammals! References: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00218/full https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2011/020718s034lbl.pdf https://www.dsm.com/personal-care/en_US/products/skin-bioactives/syn-ake.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S108060329770022X https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2020.583587/full https://www.unco.edu/nhs/biology/about-us/mackessy-stephen/documents/2008-BoR-Mackessy-Rattlesnake-venom-trends.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.612846/full https://australian.museum/learn/animals/reptiles/inland-taipan/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1984.tb132968.x https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2010/acs-presspac-january-13-2010/unlocking-the-mystery-of-the-duck-billed-platypus-venom.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2965387/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220312744 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/13/5/318 https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/99/2/351/4911419?login=true https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0402517101 https://www.mcponline.org/article/S1535-9476(20)34139-6/fulltext https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-007-6649-5_3-2

Part two of our series on venom! We start out talking about some venomous jellyfish and other cnidarians before moving on to arthropods, like some very venomous spiders! Then we go into treatment options for venom before finishing with some very strange venomous amphibians! Not just poisonous! Venomous! Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488701/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3520902/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4226504/ https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/spider-bites-and-venoms/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6832493/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535394/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20358687/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6720840/ https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/12/4/240/htm https://www.bbc.com/news/health-34214029 https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/snakebite-envenoming/treatment https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/sw-091613-bitingback.pdf https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/90886/can-you-suck-poison-out-snakebite https://www.sciencenews.org/article/caecilians-amphibians-venomous-bites https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00631.x https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(15)00788-5.pdf

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the first episode of our series on venom! We previously discussed toxic stuff, and venoms are a specific subset of toxic things that are introduced to the body by bite or injection rather than getting swallowed or inhaled or whatever. In this first episode we give a breakdown of the different kinds of venom, and in the following two episodes we'll talk about specific venomous animals! References: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32751897/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10080348/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4060629/ https://www.timsreptiles.co.za/uncategorized/venom-types-and-there-effects-on-humans https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430756/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6832493/ https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0008581 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041008X17303654 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5484289/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590171020300308 https://www.unco.edu/nhs/biology/about-us/mackessy-stephen/documents/2008-BoR-Mackessy-Rattlesnake-venom-trends.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.612846/full

Happy 4th of July to all our listeners in the USA! In honor of the holiday, we're doing an episode on hot dogs and other cured meats, specifically regarding the health impacts of nitrates/nitrites! Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/mar/23/nitrites-ham-bacon-cancer-risk-additives-meat-industry-confidential--report https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2017213/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4550318/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956713506000090 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00543808/document https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer https://progressreport.cancer.gov/prevention/nitrate https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901412/

In our first episode on the topic, we introduced the idea and definition of doping. In this episode we dive into blood doping, gene and cell doping, and a little debate about whether doping really is all that bad. References: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3547746/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30969231/ https://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/RBC/altitude.shtml https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/02/blood-doping-what-is-it-and-has-anyone-died-as-a-result-of-it https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/1999/11000/Effects_of_anabolic_steroids_on_the_muscle_cells.6.aspx https://cleancompetition.org/2018/12/11/small-amount-of-blood-doping-large-impact/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-014-0247-x https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/6/666 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/whats-the-economic-impact-of-doping-in-sport/ https://www.usada.org/athletes/substances/effects-of-performance-enhancing-drugs/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200434060-00002

Hey folks! On this episode Sean and Nathan discuss sports doping, first defining what counts as doping then discussing a history of doping! Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6311632/ https://www.acmt.net/cgi/page.cgi/_zine.html/Ask_A_Toxicologist/What_is_doping_and_why_do_athletes_do_this_ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096637409000525 https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/64/1/89 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482418/ https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-you-need-to-know-about-clenbuterol-for-bodybuilding https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2439527/

We took a break from our series on poisons, but we're back now to chat about organic poisons! No, not like pesticide-free poisons, organic in this context just means they're molecules that have carbons and hydrogens in them! So no more chatting about metallic poisons, we're going to move on to stuff like hemlock! Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750037.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750037.html https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25449264/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29135964/

I promise Nathan doesn't say 'whey' weird the entire episode, it just takes a bit for him to stop. This week's episode is about whey protein! What is it? Does it actually provide any benefit over any other protein? Our sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f62b/3f7baacc4de99ee20903e1cdd658487a2443.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030298756139 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557845/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4442117/ https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12986-019-0417-9 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5568273/ https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/1/269S/4664134?login=true https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/4/1031/4648831?login=true https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3871/htm https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24284442/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034047/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25671415/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16002802/

Hi Everyone! This is the first episode in a periodic series we're going to do called 'side quests'. Sometimes we come across science stories that aren't quite enough to do a full episode on, but are interesting and fun to talk about! So from now on we'll occasionally present them as a series of shorter stories within an episode! In this episode, we'll discuss a competitor of Louis Pasteur, a high school that appears to be the center of a cluster of brain tumors, and a historical example of unethical experiments on prisoners incarcerated in the USA. References: https://medium.com/an-idea/microzymian-theory-or-the-germ-theory-of-disease-c560ac2bcf8e https://www.wired.com/story/the-19th-century-crank-who-tried-to-tell-us-about-the-microbiome/ https://nj1015.com/frank-pallone-calls-for-more-action-on-colonia-high-school-brain-tumor-cluster-investigation/ https://www.nj.com/news/2022/05/parents-demand-remote-school-option-as-fears-over-brain-tumor-cluster-mount.html https://harvardcrcl.org/the-shackles-of-science-the-exploitative-use-of-prisoners-in-scientific-studies/ https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2008/mar/15/cheaper-than-chimpanzees-expanding-the-use-of-prisoners-in-medical-experiments/

Hi Folks! Part three of our poison series is on arsenic, the king of poisons and the poison of kings! Arsenic had a long history of being used to kill nobles, but after a reliable test for arsenic was developed in the 1800s it got a lot less popular for killing people. But in true human fashion, we continued to use arsenic for all kinds of things! References: https://jmvh.org/article/arsenic-the-poison-of-kings-and-the-saviour-of-syphilis/ https://www.asmalldoseoftoxicology.org/fowler https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-13185-1_1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304380/ https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=NHEERL&dirEntryId=341168 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27784519/ https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a608017.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6281155/ https://www.fda.gov/food/chemical-metals-natural-toxins-pesticides-guidance-documents-regulations/supporting-document-action-level-arsenic-apple-juice https://www.zoetisus.com/news-and-media/pfizer-to-suspend-sale-of-3-nitro-roxarsone-in-the-united-states.aspx# https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128022290000025 https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/arsenic/arsenic_pathogen.html https://pmj.bmj.com/content/79/933/391 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6678206/

Hi everyone! Here is part 2 in our series on poisons. This time we discuss lead! Our new sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/minerals-database/lead/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/sugar-of-lead-a-deadly-sweetener-89984487 https://www.fda.gov/food/metals-and-your-food/questions-and-answers-lead-glazed-traditional-pottery https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-children-lead/lead-measured-in-teeth-of-kids-living-near-former-battery-recycling-plant-idUSKCN1SL2QT https://dtsc.ca.gov/exide-bankruptcy/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354723 https://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/lead-poisoning/adults.html https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408444.2018.1429387 https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1031429212/the-world-has-finally-stopped-using-leaded-gasoline-algeria-used-the-last-stockp https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/leaded-gas-was-phased-out-25-years-ago-why-are-n1264970 https://www.science.org/content/article/seal-dangerous-lead-pipes-just-add-electricity https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i7/Lead-Ended-Flints-Tap-Water.html https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.med.55.091902.103653 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-73745-4_11

Hey everyone! Nathan wanted to know how poisons work and we're starting with some metals! Metal poisons are pretty interesting because they aren't complex molecules or anything, they're like single atoms running around messing up your biological systems! But how do metals interact with biology in the first place? Let's get into it! References: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/toxin https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/toxicant https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b05027 www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247(19)31639-0.pdf https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b05027 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103093/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755212/ https://watermark.silverchair.com/labmed33-0614.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00754/full

*Hey folks, some people are having a tough time hearing the episode on some platforms, this reupload is an attempt to see if we can fix that* At Nathan's insistence, this is the last Mesozoic episode for now! We talk about dinosaurs, across the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, including heavy-hitters like T Rex! We also dispel some misunderstandings about velociraptor and other fun dino facts! Our new sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12255 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600708 https://www.sciencealert.com/chubby-naked-t-rex-most-accurate-painting-to-date https://www.businessinsider.com/t-rex-discoveries-hunted-walked-growth-2021-4 https://www.livescience.com/64921-t-rex-relatives-images/2.html https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax6250 http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/raptorial-dinosaurs-hunt-08403.html

At Nathan's insistence, this is the last Mesozoic episode for now! We talk about dinosaurs, across the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, including heavy-hitters like T Rex! We also dispel some misunderstandings about velociraptor and other fun dino facts! Our new sponsor is Athletic Greens, a really solid and easy way to get your vitamins if you're like me and are too silly/busy to cook proper meals every day and need to get those nutrients somehow! Check them out and get a free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 travel packs by heading over to athleticgreens.com/emerging References: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12255 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600708 https://www.sciencealert.com/chubby-naked-t-rex-most-accurate-painting-to-date https://www.businessinsider.com/t-rex-discoveries-hunted-walked-growth-2021-4 https://www.livescience.com/64921-t-rex-relatives-images/2.html https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax6250 http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/raptorial-dinosaurs-hunt-08403.html

Yessss we're finally doing it! Dinosaurs! But only Jurassic ones! Yeah, that's right, a bunch of dinosaurs were only around in the Cretaceous, like velociraptor and T. rex. But don't worry, I'm sure some of your favs were in the Jurassic, like good ol' stegosaurus! What is a dinosaur? Who was around in the Jurassic? Find out this week on Petri Dish! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21700 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393826/ https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1642

Yay! The Age of the Dinosaurs! In this episode, we lay the groundwork for finally digging into dinosaurs in part 2 -- we discuss the changes to the climate and continents of the Jurassic and how that played into the development of the dinosaurs. References: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15325-6 https://cp.copernicus.org/preprints/cp-2020-35/cp-2020-35.pdf

We end our discussion of the Triassic period with the land and air -- this is the time when dinosaurs and pterosaurs first evolved, along with the first mammals! References: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0949 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220302221

We're taking a one episode break, Nathan kind of explains why...

In our last episode, we discussed The Great Dying, the transitional extinction event that ended the Permian and Paleozoic times and kickstarted the Triassic and Mesozoic! While the Mesozoic is often thought of as the Age of the Dinosaurs (and it *is* the time when they both evolved and went largely extinct), the first part of the Mesozoic was dominated by other groups of animals. But who?! Find out, this week on Petri Dish! References: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220302221 https://www.britannica.com/science/Triassic-Period/Paleoclimate https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-triassic-period-the-rise-of-the-dinosaurs.html https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/triassic/triassic.php https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2017.1394922

Hey, times are tough! So in a bit of escapism, Petri Dish has decided to dive into one of the largest extinction events of all time -- the Great Dying! Serving as the end of the paleozoic and start of the mesozoic, the Great Dying killed of around 90% of marine animal species and 75% of land species, clearing things out a little bit for the start of the age of the Dinosaurs! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22066-7 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001282521400110X https://news.mit.edu/2015/siberian-traps-end-permian-extinction-0916 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X11007151 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22066-7 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2018.0361

This week we have an episode on a topic recommended by a friend of the show! We begin with a story about a cute little goat born in the late 1930s in the Netherlands, and spiral into a wide ranging discussion about evolution, natural selection, phenotypic plasticity, and nature vs nurture! Tune in! References: https://medium.com/philosophy-of-science-communication/i-was-slijpers-goat-d79e59d32ac6 https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/50/2/386/901720 http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/EvSy/PDF/Rachootin-Thomson_Epigenetics_1981.pdf https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0501844102 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(11)00651-8 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2019.00720/full