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Are aliens real? Are they here?Did they create us? What is the evidence that the answer to all three is YES? How do we even process this information if it's true?These are just some of the questions I asked Bruce Fenton in our extraordinary two-hour conversation recorded a few minutes ago.This one lingers. Hope you enjoy it! What's your first reaction—mind blown, skeptical, or already rethinking everything?
Join us in this episode as we explore the transformative role of technology, especially AI, in aging well. Our guest, Jon Warner, a seasoned expert in healthcare and innovation for older adults, shares his journey, latest trends, and a hopeful vision for the future of personalized, preventative care that empowers individuals to thrive at any age.About JonJon Warner is an aging expert and sought-after advisor for digital health, health, healthcare and wellness organizations. Five-time company CEO, Jon is a widely respected entrepreneur having founded and led 3 startups (with 2 successful exits).His career started in the corporate world with Air Products and Chemicals, working in the US and across Europe before joining Exxon-Mobil. Following his 15 years in the corporate world, Warner founded and grew The Worldwide Centerfor Organizational Development, a management consulting business with global clients including Ford Motor Company, L'Oreal, British Airways, HSBC, Microsoft, Glaxo, Foster Wheeler, Toyota, Johnson and Johnson, Coca-Cola, PWC, The UK NHS, Roche and MasterCard.Key TakeawaysIn the past two decades, macro demographic changes have led to increased innovation and more focus on aging populations.Aging is plastic, not predetermined: Aging is a flexible process, influenced by lifestyle and epigenetic factors.Innovation in AI allows us to customize solutions and tailor them in ways that will help us to thrive and to prevail for longer in better health. AI is capable of pulling together data and creating new threads of insights.AI brings the opportunity to case-assess more richly and not only understand the care that's being rendered, but in what context the person lives. Using AI in affordable housing allows analysis of social determinants of health data—answering questions like: Does beingsocial and having a wide friend set prevent heart disease and dementiaAI needs contextual thinking provided by humans The risk of AI is misinformation from scaping the internet, which is not always reliable. We need “guidelines and guide rails.” To reduce risk, be specific with prompts and rely on credible reports and studies.Precision medicine eliminates a one-size-fits-all approach. Genomic data and social determinant data allows us to render solutions that are individualized in ways we couldn't imagine a decade ago.
Genetic resilience and the dynamics of inbreeding and diversity in dairy breeding. Dr. Maltecca (6:43)The main issues in managing genetic diversity in dairy cattle include inbreeding depression and continuing selection without exhausting the available variability in the population. These are difficult to investigate in a breeding population, as there is not a model algorithm where there is the luxury of designing an experiment. Dairy cattle closely resemble one another, so it is difficult to distinguish between the effect of selection from the effect of drift and the effect of deleterious mutation accumulation in the population. Researchers find proxies to estimate inbreeding and inbreeding depression because we don't have good estimates of dominance effects.Identifying genetic diversity within indigenous and highly commercialized breeds for improved performance and future preservation. Dr. Huson (12:24)Dr. Huson covered four steps of thinking about genetic diversity in cattle: characterization of the genetic diversity, biological understanding of why we should preserve diversity, utilizing our understanding of diversity in breeding programs, and preserving and reassessing diversity over time. Harnessing indigenous African breeds for sustainable dairy production: Opportunities for crossbreeding to accelerate genetic improvement. Dr. Mapholi (16:52)Dr. Mapholi emphasized the importance of tick and disease resistance for the sustainability of the African dairy industry. The indigenous African breeds had been overlooked due to small frame size and the perception they were not suitable for commercial farming, but they have excellent tick and disease resistance. Exotic breeds from the US and Europe struggled with the harsh environment. Crossbreeding indigenous and exotic breeds is allowing for simultaneous improvement in milk production and disease resistance. Genomics is particularly helpful to identify the best candidate breeds for crossing.Genomic- versus pedigree-based inbreeding: 2 sides of the same coin. Dr. Macciotta (24:19)It was thought that genomic selection would help in slowing the increase of inbreeding because we were looking at the DNA of the animal, not their pedigree. However, the traditional top animals were the population from which genomic selection began, and genomic selection shortens generation interval, so inbreeding continues to increase at a faster rate. Genomics offer new tools for investigating inbreeding, but there are 10-15 options to calculate inbreeding, all of which could provide a different answer. With pedigree selection, there is only one measurement of inbreeding. We are still investigating the best method for calculating inbreeding using genomic tools.Managing genetic diversity: Strategies for sustainable livestock improvement. Dr. Baes (27:53)Genomic selection has increased the speed at which animals become more related. There are negative implications of inbreeding, but today, the genetic and economic gains achieved through the current intense directional selection still far outweigh the inbreeding issues. No one knows where the edge of the cliff is, however. Dr. Baes envisions an international system one day where academia, AI companies, and producers all work together to understand and manage genetic diversity in livestock.The panelists discuss key takeaways they got from the other speakers' presentations and give perspectives on the topic of genetic diversity for their particular country and field of study. (34:58)Panelists share their take-home thoughts. (46:10)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table. If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to anh.marketing@balchem.com. Include your size and mailing address, and we'll mail you a shirt.
Genomic epidemiology is reshaping how we detect, investigate, and control infectious disease outbreaks—but what does that actually look like from the bench to public health? In this episode of Let's Talk Micro, Luis is joined by genomic epidemiologist Krisandra Allen for a practical, case-based conversation on how pathogen sequencing data is generated, analyzed, and paired with epidemiologic information to answer questions traditional methods can't. They discuss foodborne and hepatitis A outbreaks, geographically dispersed clusters, and how sequencing is being integrated into routine public health workflows, while highlighting the essential role of clinical microbiology labs in specimen submission and data quality. A timely episode for microbiologists, public health professionals, and trainees curious about how their lab work feeds into real-world surveillance and outbreak response. Stay connected with Let's Talk Micro: Website: letstalkmicro.com Questions or feedback? Email me at letstalkmicro@outlook.com Interested in being a guest on Let's Talk Micro? Fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/V2fT3asjfyusmqyi8 Support the podcast: Venmo Buy me a Ko-fi
Guest: Dan Flores. Flores details the Clovis culture's rapid expansion and efficient hunting, arguing human predation and genomic meltdown drove the "American extinction" of large mammals like mammoths.1908
The New World Order, Agenda 2030, Agenda 2050, The Great Reset and Rise of The 4IR
Intelligence Notes:LAWSUIT: Genomic Warfare Confirmed-Monsanto Technology in your COVID SHOTS 2026- New World Order.Pharmaceutical Warfare: Bayer, ModeRNA, Pfizer et al.To support the [Show] and its [Research] with Donations, please send all funds and gifts to :$aigner2019 (cashapp) or https://www.paypal.me/Aigner2019 or Zelle (1-617-821-3168). Shalom Aleikhem!
In this episode of our special series on corn production on The Crop Science Podcast Show, Dr. James Schnable from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln breaks down how genetics, genomics, and machine learning are reshaping modern hybrid development. He explains how breeders use genomic prediction and high-throughput phenotyping to tackle climate variability, stress tolerance, and yield stability. Listen now on all major platforms!"Hybrid breeding and statistical analysis really are what moved hybrid cornfields in the US from around 26 to 30 bushels an acre to now north of 200."Meet the guest: Dr. James Schnable is the Nebraska Corn Presidential Chair at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he leads research integrating quantitative genetics, genomics, and machine learning to improve crops like corn and sorghum. His work focuses on advanced phenotyping, climate resilience, and genetic discovery to support breeders and the crop industry.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:06) Introduction(04:19) Breeding changes(08:33) Climate-ready hybrids(11:02) Key trait priorities(14:55) Genomic prediction(18:50) Gene editing limits(23:17) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:- KWS
In this JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights episode, host Dr. Harold Nathan Tan summarizes "Palbociclib in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer and Other Tumors With CDKN2A Alterations: Results From the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry Study" by Worden et al. TRANSCRIPT Harold Nathan Tan: Welcome to JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights, where we explore research that is reshaping our understanding of cancer therapeutics. I'm your host, Harold Nathan Tan, and today's episode centers on the TAPUR study, an analysis that confronts a long-standing assumption in molecular oncology: namely, whether CDKN2A alterations create a therapeutic vulnerability that can be exploited by CDK4/6 inhibition with palbociclib. CDKN2A is one of the most frequently altered tumor suppressors across solid tumors. Its importance lies in its production of two proteins, p16 and p14, which serve as guardians of cell cycle progression. p16 directly inhibits CDK4 and CDK6, preventing phosphorylation of the RB protein and therefore blocking entry into S phase, whereas p14 stabilizes p53 by counteracting MDM2, enabling cells to pause or die in response to oncogenic stress. When CDKN2A is lost or mutated, these dual checkpoints collapse. CDK4/6 activity becomes unchecked, RB remains phosphorylated and inactive, and p53-mediated surveillance is blunted from a mechanistic standpoint. This creates a possible dependency on CDK4/6 signaling that could, in principle, be therapeutically reversed by palbociclib. The TAPUR study is a prospective phase 2 basket study designed to evaluate whether FDA-approved targeted agents can meaningfully benefit patients with advanced treatment-refractory cancers harboring specific genomic alterations. In this analysis, patients were eligible for palbociclib if their tumors carried CDKN2A loss or mutation and retained RB activity. Two cohorts were examined: one consisting of head and neck cancers, and another composed of a broad spectrum of tumor types that collectively shared the CDK2 alteration. The results from the head and neck cancer cohort are particularly intriguing. Among the 28 available patients, the study observed a disease control rate of 40%, surpassing the predefined threshold for a positive signal. Although the objective response rate was low at only 4% with one partial response, the durability of disease stabilization was clinically meaningful. However, the most important insight comes from examining which head and neck tumors benefited. The strongest and most durable disease control occurred in non-squamous malignancies, particularly salivary gland tumors such as adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and poorly differentiated parotid tumors, as well as in esthesioneuroblastoma. In contrast, classic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma rarely demonstrated sustained benefit. When progression-free survival was analyzed, non-squamous tumors achieved a median PFS of approximately 20 weeks compared to just eight weeks in squamous tumors. This divergence reflects deep biological differences. Many non-squamous head and neck cancers preserve an intact RB axis and rely on CDK4/6-driven cell cycle control as a core proliferative mechanism. By contrast, squamous tumors tend to accumulate a dense array of co-alterations that weaken or circumvent CDK4/6 dependency. Many squamous tumors also harbor disruptive TP53 mutations, removing essential checkpoint control and allowing the cell to bypass the growth-arresting effects of palbociclib. In other words, even though CDKN2A loss is present, CDK4/6 is no longer the dominant node controlling proliferation in these cancers, and the tumor simply finds other ways to drive cell cycle entry. One of the most thought-provoking findings from the TAPUR study involves esthesioneuroblastoma. Three patients with this rare tumor achieved durable disease control despite the lack of standardized systemic treatment options for this malignancy. Genomic analyses have shown that while esthesioneuroblastoma often carries TP53 or IDH2 mutations, a meaningful subset exhibits alterations in CDKN2A or related cell cycle regulators. The consistency of this disease stabilization observed in TAPUR may reflect a lineage-specific reliance on CDK4/6 signaling, opening the door for future exploration of CDK4/6 inhibitors in this orphan disease. In the histology-pooled cohort, which included 40 available patients across 18 tumor types, palbociclib did not achieve the disease control threshold required to declare activity, with only a disease control rate of 13% and an ORR of 5%. While a few isolated responses occurred, for instance in thymic carcinoma and B-cell lymphoma, the overall disease control rate was 13%, which failed to rise above what might be expected from the natural history of advanced refractory cancers. This outcome reinforces the principle that CDKN2A loss is not a universal predictor of CDK4/6 dependency. Many of the tumors represented in this cohort, such as pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and gastrointestinal malignancies, are well known to evolve multiple compensatory mechanisms that circumvent CDK4/6 as a critical proliferative node. The safety profile of palbociclib was consistent with its known hematologic toxicities. High rates of neutropenia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia were observed, along with one treatment-related death due to respiratory failure. In a setting where activity is limited to specific subgroups, these toxicities underscore the importance of careful patient selection and raise the bar for demonstrating clinically meaningful benefit, particularly in heavily pretreated populations. So what do these findings tell us about the broader landscape of precision oncology? First, they remind us that a mutation's functional role is dependent on the cellular and lineage context in which it occurs. CDKN2A loss may accelerate proliferation in many tumors, but the mechanism of that acceleration varies widely, and the degree to which a tumor relies on CDK4/6 signaling is anything but uniform. Second, the findings suggest that palbociclib monotherapy may hold meaningful and durable benefit in the subset of non-squamous head and neck cancers, particularly salivary gland malignancies and esthesioneuroblastoma. Third and perhaps most importantly, the results reinforce a growing consensus that the future of CDK4/6 inhibition in solid tumors lies not in monotherapy, but in rational combination strategies. CDK4/6 inhibitors have been shown to synergize with EGFR inhibitors, PIK3CA, and mTOR inhibitors, MEK inhibition, and even immune checkpoint blockade. These combinations aim to dismantle the compensatory pathways that allow tumors to escape CDK4/6 blockade and may unlock therapeutic potential in tumors that show limited sensitivity to monotherapy. Ultimately, the TAPUR findings challenge the notion that CDKN2A is a straightforward predictive biomarker. Instead, the study reveals CDKN2A as a biomarker whose meaning is modulated by tumor lineage, co-mutation status, and the broader regulatory circuit governing proliferation. Precision oncology must therefore move beyond single-gene interpretation towards integrated frameworks that situate genomic alterations within their biologic ecosystems. In some head and neck cancer subtypes, particularly non-squamous malignancies, that ecosystem appears amenable to CDK4/6 inhibition, and that insight, not the simplistic gene-to-drug match, represents the true value of the TAPUR analysis. Thank you for joining me for this episode of JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights. I'm Harold Nathan Tan, and I look forward to exploring more research that continues to refine how we understand and strategically exploit the vulnerabilities of cancer. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.
In this special end-of-year episode of Behind the Genes, host Sharon Jones is joined by Dr Rich Scott, Chief Executive Officer of Genomics England, to reflect on the past year at Genomics England, and to look ahead to what the future holds. Together, they revisit standout conversations from across the year, exploring how genomics is increasingly embedded in national health strategy, from the NHS 10-Year Health Plan to the government's ambitions for the UK life sciences sector. Rich reflects on the real-world impact of research, including thousands of diagnoses returned to the NHS, progress in cancer and rare condition research, and the growing momentum of the Generation Study, which is exploring whether whole genome sequencing could be offered routinely at birth. This episode offers a thoughtful reflection on how partnership, innovation, and public trust are shaping the future of genomic healthcare in the UK and why the years ahead promise to be even more exciting. Below are the links to the podcasts mentioned in this episode, in order of appearance: How are families and hospitals bringing the Generation Study to life? How can cross-sector collaborations drive responsible use of AI for genomic innovation? How can we enable ethical and inclusive research to thrive? How can parental insights transform care for rare genetic conditions? How can we unlock the potential of large-scale health datasets? Can patient collaboration shape the future of therapies for rare conditions? https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/podcasts/what-can-we-learn-from-the-generation-study “There is this view set out there where as many as half of all health interactions by 2035 could be informed by genomics or other similar advanced analytics, and we think that is a really ambitious challenge, but also a really exciting one.” You can download the transcript, or read it below. Sharon: Hello, and welcome to Behind the Genes. Rich: This is about improving health outcomes, but it's also part of a broader benefit to the country because the UK is recognised already as a great place from a genomics perspective. We think playing our role in that won't just bring the health benefits, it also will secure the country's position as the best place in the world to discover, prove, and where proven roll out benefit from genomic innovations and we think it's so exciting to be part of that team effort. Sharon: I'm Sharon Jones, and today I'll be joined by Rich Scott, Chief Executive Officer at Genomics England for this end of year special. We'll be reflecting on some of the conversations from this year's episodes, and Rich will be sharing his insights and thoughts for the year ahead. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love your support, so please subscribe, rate, and share on your favourite podcast app. So, let's get started. Thanks for joining me today, Rich. How are you? Rich: Great, it's really good to be here. Sharon: It's been a really exciting year for Genomics England. Can you tell us a bit about what's going on? Rich: Yeah, it's been a really busy year, and we'll dive into a few bits of the components we've been working on really hard. One really big theme for us is it's been really fantastic to see genomics at the heart of the government's thinking. As we'll hear later, genomics is at the centre of the new NHS 10-year health plan, and the government's life sciences sector plan is really ambitious in terms of thinking about how genomics could play a role in routine everyday support of healthcare for many people across the population in the future and it shows a real continued commitment to support the building of the right infrastructure, generating the right evidence to inform that, and to do that in dialogue with the public and patients, and it's great to see us as a key part of that. It's also been a really great year as we've been getting on with the various programmes that we've got, so our continued support of the NHS and our work with researchers accessing the National Genomic Research Library. It's so wonderful to see the continued stream of diagnoses and actionable findings going back to the NHS. It's been a really exciting year in terms of research, publications. In cancer, some really exciting publications on, for example, breast cancer and clinical trials. Really good partnership work with some industry partners, really supporting their work. For me, one of the figures we are always really pleased to see go up with time is the number of diagnoses that we can return thanks to research that's ongoing in the research library, so now we've just passed 5,000 diagnostic discoveries having gone back to the NHS, it really helps explain for me how working both with clinical care and with research and linking them really comes to life and why it's so vital. And then, with our programmes, it's been great to see the Generation Study making good progress. So, working with people across the country, more than 25,000 families now recruited to the study, and we're beginning to hear about their experiences, including some of the families who've received findings from the programme. It's really nice to see and hear from Freddie's family, who talked to the press a bit about the finding that they received. Freddie was at increased risk of a rare eye cancer, and really pleasingly, it was possible to detect that early through the screening that was put in place. Again, it really brings to life why we're doing this, to make a difference and improve health outcomes. Sharon: That's an incredible 12 months. Diving into that Generation Study piece and for listeners who don't know what that is, it's a research study in partnership with the NHS that aims to sequence the genomes of 100,000 newborn babies. On an episode from earlier in the year, we had mum, Rachel Peck, join the conversation, whose baby Amber is enrolled on a study. Let's year from Rachel now. Rachel: From the parents' point of view, I guess that's the hardest thing to consent for in terms of you having to make a decision on behalf of your unborn child. But I think why we thought that was worthwhile was that could potentially benefit Amber personally herself or if not, there's the potential it could benefit other children. Sharon: Consent has been such a big area of focus for us, Rich, and Rachel touches on that complexity, you know, making a decision on behalf of her unborn child. Can you talk a bit about our approach to consent in the Generation Study and what's evolving in that model? Rich: Yeah. It's been for the whole study, really, starting out asking a really big question here, what we're aiming to do is generate evidence on whether and if so, how whole genome sequencing should be offered routinely at birth, and that's responding to a really ill need that we know that each year thousands of babies are born in the UK with treatable rare conditions. We will also need to see if whole genome sequencing can make a difference for those families, but we realise to do that, as with all screening, that involves testing more people than are going to benefit from it directly themselves. So, you have to approach it really sensitively. There's lots of complicated questions, lots of nuance in the study overall. One of them is thinking really carefully about that consent process so that families can understand the choices, they can understand the benefits and risks. This is still a research study. We're looking to understand whether we should offer this routinely. It's not part of routine care at this point. The evidence will help decision-makers, policymakers in the future decide that. At the beginning of the programme, we spent a lot of time talking to families, talking to health professionals who understand the sorts of decisions that people are making at that time of life, but also are experts in helping think about how you balance that communication. That involved, as I say, a lot of conversations. We learnt a lot, lots of it practical stuff, about the stage of pregnancy that people are at when we first talk to them about the study, so that people aren't hurried and make this decision. What we've learnt in the study, right from the outset, is talking to people from midway through the pregnancy so that they really have time to engage in it and think about their choice. So, it's an important part of getting the study design right so that we run the study right. It's also a really crucial element of the evidence that will generate from the study so that we can understand if this is something that's adopted, how should we communicate about it to families. What would they want to know? What's the right level of information and how do we make that accessible in a way that is meaningful to people from different backgrounds, with different levels of interest, different accessibility in terms of digital and reading and so on. There's a lot that we've learnt along the way and there's a lot that we're still learning. And as I say, important things that we'll present as evidence later on. Sharon: Thank you. It's fascinating there are so many moving parts and a lot to consider when you're building the design of a programme like this or study like this. Earlier in the year you had a great conversation with Karim Beguir about the developments of AI in genomics. Let's revisit that moment. Karim: We live in an extraordinary time. I want to emphasise the potential of scientific discovery in the next two or three years. AI is going to move, let's say, digital style technologies like coding and math towards more like science and biology. In particular, genomics is going to be a fascinating area in terms of potential. Sharon: So, Karim talks about AI moving from maths and coding into biology. Why is genomics such a natural area for AI? Rich: It's really fascinating. I think it links a lot to how we think about genomics and how you get the most value in terms of health benefit and sort of the progress that we can see could come through genomics more generally. So, your genome, which is your DNA code, written in 3 billion little letters across each one of us, one copied from mum, one copied from dad, even just our genomic code of one person is a large amount of data. That is just part of the story because we're not just interested in DNA for DNA's sake, this is about thinking about health and how we can improve health outcomes. So, it's also thinking about the other sorts of information that needs to link to genomic data to make a difference. Whether that's just to provide routine healthcare with today's knowledge, or whether it's about continuing to learn and discover. As I mentioned at the beginning, I think a really important part of this whole picture is we've learnt a lot in the last 20/30/40 plus years about genomics. It's incredible how much progress has been made, and we're really just scratching the surface. Take rare disease and the progress that's been made there, it's wonderful how many more families we're able to help today. We know that many thousands of families we still can't find a diagnosis for when we know that there is one there for many of them. That theme of ongoing learning is at the centre of all of our work, and that will continue as we look about broader uses of genomics in other settings beyond rare conditions and cancer. It's also that ongoing learning, but also the amount of, at the moment, manual steps that are required in some of the processes that we need to, for example, find a diagnosis for someone or to make sure the tools that we use are the most up to date, the most up to date with the medical literature, for example. AI is a tool that we're, as the whole of the society, we're beginning to see how it can play a role. We see it as important today for some of the just really practical things. I mentioned it, staying up to date with the medical literature, making sure that we and our systems are aware of all of the knowledge that's coming in from around the world. It's got real potential there. I think the biggest bottom line here is that it's got the potential to be a really important tool in terms of our ongoing learning and improvement. I'm a doctor by background, the human intelligence alone is fantastic, it's moved us a long way, but we know it also has tremendous blind spots. AI has the potential to complement us there. I guess another thing to really call out here, AI isn't a panacea, it's not suddenly going to answer all of the questions. And, just like human intelligence, it will have its own biases, have its own strong points, and less strong points. One of the things we're really committed to is working with people like Karim, and many others, to understand where AI could make a difference, to test it, to generate evidence on how well it works and an understanding in all sorts of ways about how that might play out. And, make sure that as AI becomes a tool, that we in genomics, but also in other areas, we understand its strong points and where we need to be more careful and cautious with it. That's a really important part of what we're going to be doing in the coming years here, is making sure that we can maximise the impact of it, but also be confident, so that we can explain to people whose data we might use it on how we're doing it and what it's bringing. Sharon: Thanks Rich. It's definitely a fast-moving conversation of which we really want to be part of. One of the things that's come up again and again this year is participation and co-production. Let's hear quote that really captures that. Bobbie: In an earlier conversation with Paul, which you might find surprising that it's stuck with me so much, he used the word ‘extractive'. He said that he'd been involved in research before and looking back on it, he had felt at times it could be a little bit extractive. You come in, you ask questions, you take the data away and analyse it, and it might only be by chance that the participants ever know what became of things next. One of the real principles of this project was always going to be co-production and true collaboration with our participants. Sharon: That was Professor Bobbie Farsides talking about moving away from extractive research towards true co-production. How are we making that shift in practice here at Genomics England? Rich: It's a great question. It's one of the areas where I think we've learnt most as an organisation over the years about how really engaging from the beginning with potential participants in programmes, participants who join our programmes, people who are involved in delivering our programmes and healthcare is so important at the beginning. I mentioned earlier the work to think about the consent process for the Generation Study, and that's one of the areas where I think from our first programme, 100,000 Genomes Project, we learnt a lot about how to do that well, some of the pitfalls, some of the bits that are most challenging. And really, right from the start of our programmes, making sure that people who will potentially benefit from the programmes, potentially join them, can be part of that engagement process, and really part of the design and the shaping of the research questions, the parameters around research, but also the materials and how people will engage with them. And that's one of the key capabilities we have internally as an organisation, so we work with partners externally, but also it's a really key part of the team that we have at Genomics England. Sharon: So, whilst Bobbie talked about moving away from research that can feel one-sided and towards true collaboration, in another episode, Lindsay, a parent of a child with a rare condition, reflected on what that change really means for families and how it's empowering to see their voices and experiences shaping future treatments. Lindsay: Historically, there's been a significant absence of a patient voice in rare disease research and development. And knowing that that's changing, I think that's really empowering for families. To know that professionals and industry are actually listening to our stories and our needs and really trying to understand, that offers much greater impact on the care and treatments of patients in the future. Sharon: So, what role do you see participants as partners in shaping the next phase of Genomics England's work? Rich: So, as you probably detected from my last answer, we see it as absolutely vital. One of the really exciting things here at Genomics England, we've had a participant panel from very early in our life as an organisation. That's one really important route to us at the heart of our organisation, part of our governance, making sure that participants representing all sorts of parts of our programme, but rare conditions being a really large focus for us. And I think, what's so striking as someone with a medical and a research background can see how I think historically medics and researchers have sometimes not known, sort of maybe been a bit scared about knowing how to involve participants from the outset. Often, because they're worried that they might ask the wrong questions in the wrong way, they just don't have the tools. One of the things I often say now to people we work with is one of the most empowering and positive experiences we have at Genomics England is the power of our participants helping to, right from the beginning, shape what the questions are that we should be asking. Realise some of the challenges that you can't possibly, if you're not in their shoes, understand are the most important to really shape how we prioritise our work internally, the problems that we need to solve first, how we think about some of the practical impacts on people's lives that, again, without hearing from their voice you just wouldn't know. And again, to help our researchers, people accessing data in the National Genomic Research Library, helping them make sure that they involve participants in their work and the confidence and tools to do that. Sharon: That's great, thank you. Another big theme this year has been collaboration across the NHS, academia, and industry. Dr Raghib Ali puts this really well. Raghib: There are areas where academia and the NHS are very strong, and there are areas where industry is very strong, and why working together, as we saw, you know, very good examples during the pandemic with the vaccine and diagnostic tests, etc., a collaboration between the NHS, academia, and industry leads to much more rapid and wider benefits for our patients and, hopefully, in the future for the population as a whole in terms of early detection and prevention of disease. Sharon: So, how does collaboration fit into the 10-year health plan and what's next for 2026 in that space, Rich? Rich: I think one of the most enjoyable parts of my role at Genomics England and our role as an organisation is the fact that we see ourselves very much as part of a, sort of team across the UK and in fact internationally in terms of delivering on the potential we see for genomics. So, we have a vision as an organisation, which has been the same the last 5 or so years, which is a world where everyone can benefit from genomic healthcare. In fact, that vision is now shared by the NHS from a genomics perspective, and really demonstrably, the 2 parts of the system absolutely pointing in the same direction. And when we've been thinking, looking forward with that 10-year lens on it, what we always like to do, and I think it's a real privilege to be able to do, because we're here in the UK, because we have a National Health Service, because there's been that long-term commitment from government on genomics and really taking a long-term investment view there, and because of so many other parts of the ecosystem, other experts who access data in the National Genomic Research Library, research organisations like Our Future Health, UK Biobank, all teaming together, and the expertise that's there in genomics more broadly. So we've, if you like, worked back from what the UK could do as whole, and in the 10-year health plan, as I said earlier, genomics is at the heart of that. There's a double helix on the front cover and, in fact, on the watermark on almost every page. And, there's this view set out there where as many as half of all health interactions by 2035 could be informed by genomics or other similar advanced analytics. And we think that that's a really ambitious challenge. We see a really important role for us, as Genomics England, in contributing to that, but it's very much a team effort. Our role is around where we have the biggest capabilities, so around building and running digital infrastructure at a national scale for healthcare delivery and for research, to building evidence to inform future policies, so running programmes like the Generation Study to inform future policy. And really, as part of that, that evidence piece, being driven by engagement, ethics, and work on equity, to really make sure that evidence that future policy can be built on is informed by a fully rounded view. We think if we do that right that we could as a country with others, the NHS, research organisations, many others could live up to that ambition that's set out there in the 10-year plan. And the 10-year plan is really clear, and government is really clear that this is about improving health outcomes. But it's also part of a broader benefit to the country because the UK is recognised already as a great place from a genomics perspective. We think playing our role in that won't just bring the health benefits, it also will secure the country's position as the best place in the world to discover, prove and where proven role out benefit from genomic innovations. And we think it's so exciting to be part of that team effort. Sharon: So, Genomics England's refreshed mission and direction of travel is really setting out how we move from research to routine care, and how we embed genomics across the health system. Carlo Rinaldi captured the idea perfectly, imagining a future where diagnosis and hope arrive hand in hand. Carlo: My dream is that in five to ten years' time an individual with a rare disease is identified in the clinic, perhaps even before symptoms have manifested. At that exact time the day of the diagnosis becomes also a day of hope, in a way, where immediately the researcher, the genetic labs, flags that specific variant, that specific mutation. We know exactly which is the best genetic therapy to go after. Sharon: And Rich, what are your thoughts on that? Rich: I think Carlo captures it really well. And for us, I think a really big theme is for that potential for genomics to make a difference, a continued and in fact increased difference for people with rare conditions and cancer, areas where it's already making a difference, but also with the potential to make a much broader impact for people across the population. The real theme is embedding genomics into routine care, making it something that you don't need to know that you're seeing an expert in genomics to benefit from it, really make sure that those benefits can be felt as just part of routine care. It's not something separate where we recognise that the best healthcare is healthcare that's supported by all sorts of inputs, with genomics being a key part of that, and that we can continue to learn as we do that. So that with people's consent, with their understanding of how their data is being used, we know that if we don't have the best answer for them today, we give the best answer we can today, and we can continue to learn, and they can benefit from that in the future. I'm a rare disease doctor by background, and one of the really most enjoyable parts of my job is seeing that come to practice. In the last year or so I've had a number of families where I've been seeing the family for years, and a researcher accessing data in the National Genomic Research library has found an answer that we've not been able to find for maybe their child's whole life, and then finally we're able to feed it back. Seeing that come to life is just so wonderful, and I think gives us a bit of a blueprint for how things could work more generally. Sharon: That's great. I mean, what a feeling for those families who do get those answers. As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, the conversation is starting to include prevention, using genomics not just to diagnose conditions but to predict and treat and even prevent them. Alice Tuff-Lacey summarised this nicely in an episode about Generation Study. Alice: This is quite an exciting shift in how we use whole genome sequencing, because what we're talking about is using it in a much more preventative way. Traditionally where we've been using it is diagnostically where we know someone's sick and they've got symptoms of rare condition, and we're looking to see what they might have. What we're actually talking about is screening babies from birth using their genome to see if they're at risk of a particular condition. And what this means is this raises quite a lot of complex ethical, operational, and scientific and clinical questions. Sharon: Rich, when you think about 2026, what's your biggest hope for where we'll be this time next year? Rich: I think it's a really exciting time. As you can tell from how we've been speaking, I'm really excited about the direction of travel and how over the next 5 and 10 years we can really make a transformational shift because of how well placed we are in the UK from a genomics perspective. Where we are with today's knowledge, where we could be because of the continued government and NHS commitment to genomics being at the heart of this, if we build the right infrastructure, if we generate the right evidence to inform what's adopted, I think we're in a really exciting place. From a 2026 perspective, I think what we're really committed to is continuing to do the work, the day-by-day-by-day work that is to build that incrementally. So, a really big focus for us is continuing to support the NHS and making sure researchers can access data, so that flow of answers for families can continue and grow, accelerate, to continue delivering the Generation Study because it's a really important part of that wider jigsaw to generate the evidence that can inform future policy on whether this is something that's adopted and offered routinely to every child when they're born. I think a really important time now that the government's provided the opportunity for us as a team, as a UK genomics and life sciences ecosystem, is to really put in place some of the next steps, the building blocks that can take us towards that 10-year vision. So for us also, a really important part of the year is beginning the design process for an adult population genomics programme, where we're looking at what evidence it's important that we can provide that's complementary to different work around by others in the ecosystem that needs to be there if we're going to think about that potential broader use of genomics. Sharon: That's great. It sounds like another exciting year ahead. So, we're going to wrap up there. Thank you to Rich Scott for sharing your reflections on the key milestones this year, and for your thoughts on the year ahead. Thanks, Rich. Rich: Thanks very much for having me. Sharon: If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love your support, so please subscribe, share, and rate us on wherever you listen to your podcasts. I've been your host, Sharon Jones. This podcast was produced by Deanna Barac and edited by Bill Griffin at Ventoux Digital. Thank you for listening.
Maximizing your healthspan requires understanding your specific genetic blueprint to see how your body processes fats, carbs, and antioxidants. Standard medical school training provides only a fraction of the education needed to understand nutrition and prevention. I sat down with Dr. Jeff Graham to uncover why common health "hacks" like Vitamin E or intermittent fasting might be backfiring based on your DNA. We explore the transition from high-intensity athletics to longevity-focused movement, and how advanced testing identifies disease risks years before they appear on a standard lab report.Jeff breaks down the impact of the APOE and MTHFR genes on brain health, the surprising anti-inflammatory benefits of sardines, and why muscle mass is your greatest currency as you age. We also discuss the future of AI in diagnostics, the truth about CrossFit injuries, and why contrast therapy is a non-negotiable for cellular resilience."If you're investing in anything with your time or your money that isn't asking you to do something hard most days, then you need to run away." - Dr. Jeff GrahamSupport the show and get 50% off MCT oil with free shipping—just leave us a review on iTunes and let us know!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-beyond-the-norms/id1714886566 About Jeff Graham:Dr. Jeff Graham is a performance and longevity expert combining clinical expertise with precision genomic medicine. He holds a medical degree from the University of Arkansas, completed his residency in North Carolina, and graduated cum laude from a sports medicine fellowship with board certification in lifestyle medicine. As Chief Medical Officer at Wild Health, Jeff focuses on leveraging advanced testing and data-driven insights to maximize health spans for clients ranging from senior executives to competitive CrossFit athletes.Connect with Jeff Graham:- Website: https://wildhealth.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildhealthmd/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/precisionmdjeff/ Connect with Chris Burres:- Website: https://www.myvitalc.com/ - Website: http://www.livebeyondthenorms.com/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisburres/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@myvitalc - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisburres/ DisclaimerThe content shared in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice of any kind, nor does it include any specific claims or guarantees. The views expressed are based on personal experiences, research, and individual perspectives, and are meant to inspire and inform listeners on topics related to wellness, lifestyle, and personal development.We strongly encourage all listeners to consult with a qualified professional or licensed expert before making any decisions related to health, finances, or other sensitive areas of life. Thank you for tuning in—and for taking proactive steps toward a more informed, intentional life.
Weeds remained an evolving challenge for Wisconsin farmers. Jill Welke gets a recap from UW-Extension Weed Specialist, Dr. Rodrigo Werle. Werle's making his rounds statewide sharing what they learned this growing season. He says there were some breakthroughs this year that proved to be challenging. Those breakthroughs were weeds overcoming existing chemistry to keep growing. Werle says he's got a long list of projects to try and get grower answers for 2026. Above average temperatures will make a white Christmas unlikely in many areas of Wisconsin. Stu Muck explains what's acting as the catalyst for this late December warm-up. Time for another Mid-West Farm Report Ride-A-Long. An opportunity to accept invitations to find out about the latest technology and innovations Wisconsin farmers are evaluating and using. Today we travel to Malta, IL and the site of the Syngenta Seeds Research and Development Innovation Center. Pam Jahnke finds out about the length of time required to develop products like the new Durastak corn rootworm tool. Drew Showalter, Head, Corn Portfolio Strategy, tells Pam about the evolution of the product and why it's a game-changer for Wisconsin farmers. Paid for by Syngenta. On Friday Wisconsin animal health officials announced the genomic sequencing information gathered from the H5N1 positive herd in Dodge County. Pam Jahnke reports that the genotype was found to be D1.1, a spillover from wildlife into dairy cattle. This is new and no connected to previous detections that trace their strain to an outbreak in the Texas Panhandle. Wisconsin's seen no new dairy detections and continues to rigorously monitor dairies through the National Milk Testing Strategy. A new bipartisan bill introduced on Friday could provide hope for wedding barn operators in 2026. The bill LRB-2567 would roll back 2023 Act 73 that restricts venues to six alcohol-consuming events annually. Jean Bahn, operator of Farmview Event Center in rural Green Lake County says potential clients do not like having their event restricted. She says she's lost business because people want to be able to feature alcohol as a guests option. Bahn had previously filed suit against the state claiming Act 73 was unconstitutional and designed to put her out of business. When a court ruling went against her motion last month, this new bipartisan bill became a last ray of hope for retaining business in 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
"Within-family genomic selection in strawberry: optimization of marker density, trial design, and training set composition" with Dr. Joshua Sleper If plant breeding were a poker game, you'd have to play a lot of hands to beat the house. Quantitative genetics hopes to give players an advantage by recognizing patterns that can point to future success. In strawberry, a genetically complex and labor-intensive plant, this is particularly important. This episode, Joshua join me to discuss his work using quantitative genetics to help give strawberry breeders a hand. Tune in to learn: · How some plants have "sticky cards" in their genetics · What challenges strawberry breeders face · How many clones are really enough · What lies on the horizon for strawberry breeding If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20550 This paper is always freely available. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/. If you would like to reach out to Joshua, you can find him here: j.sleper@ufl.edu Resources CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b9908BAD4-89DB-F011-8544-000D3A3685DF%7d Transcripts: Coming soon Rex Bernardo's Essentials of Plant Breeding: https://www.abebooks.com/9780972072427/Essentials-Plant-Breeding-Rex-Bernardo-097207242X/plp A Quarter Century of Genomewide Prediction - Dr. Rex Bernardo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K45M4N9mJBM&t=8s Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
Can genomic classifiers close the gap between what we see and what a tumor will do? In this episode of BackTable Urology, Dr. Carissa Chu (UCSF) joins Dr. Ruchika Talwar (Vanderbilt) to explore how genomic classifiers are reshaping the way clinicians diagnose and manage bladder cancer. --- This podcast is supported by: VeracyteVeracyte.com/decipher-bladder --- SYNPOSIS They discuss the limitations of traditional staging systems and how molecular subtyping is providing deeper insight into tumor biology, treatment response, and prognosis. Dr. Chu highlights where these classifiers can be integrated into real-world clinical decision-making today, where the evidence is still emerging, and which ongoing trials may define the next era of precision medicine in urologic oncology. --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Introduction3:01 - Overview of Genomic Classifiers9:34 - Risk Stratification15:22 - Current Evidence for Genomic Classifiers22:07 - Clinical Implications of Biomarkers27:23 - Ordering Genomic Classifiers33:46 - Future Directions37:57 - Final Takeaways --- RESOURCES Alignment of molecular subtypes across multiple bladder cancer subtyping classifiershttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38480079/ GUSTO Trialhttps://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR128103
Cancer treatment is moving toward a more precision-based approach, where therapies are guided not just by the tumor's location but also by its genetic features. Mutations in cancer cells can point to specific drugs that may be more effective for certain patients. However, detecting these mutations often requires broad and detailed analysis. This is where comprehensive genomic profiling becomes especially important. One of the main challenges in cancer care is that many existing genetic tools focus on only a limited number of mutations. As a result, some treatment opportunities may be missed. Certain mutations are also difficult to detect because they occur at low levels or exist in complex forms, such as gene fusions. Without advanced screening methods, these changes may go unnoticed. To address these challenges, researchers from Exact Sciences Corporation conducted a large-scale study using a broad genomic screening approach. The findings were recently published in the journal Oncotarget. Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2025/12/15/comprehensive-genomic-profiling-in-cancer-insights-from-over-10000-tumors/ Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28757 Correspondence to - Jean-Paul De La O - jdelao@exactsciences.com Abstract video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awiRhDfiMTE Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28757 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Oncotarget - https://www.oncotarget.com/subscribe/ Keywords - cancer, solid tumors, comprehensive genomic profiling, matched therapy, gene fusions, limit of detection To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ X - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@OncotargetJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0gRwT6BqYWJzxzmjPJwtVh MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM
Early cancer genomic panel testing aimed at detecting genetic changes in cancer cells significantly increases patients' chances of receiving effective therapies and reduces mortality risk, according to a study released recently by Kyoto University Hospital.
Send us a textDr. Pankaj Agrawal, Division Chief of Neonatology at University of Miami, discusses rapid genomic advances—from six-month diagnostic timelines in 2000 to same-day sequencing today. While current practice targets phenotype-based testing for unexplained conditions or dysmorphic features, Agrawal advocates moving toward universal NICU sequencing to identify previously unrecognized conditions. Key barriers include administrative buy-in, cost concerns, consent processes, and result disclosure challenges. Even negative results provide value—offering families reassurance and contributing to research databases. With only 5,000 of 20,000 genes linked to human disease, ongoing gene discovery work continues. Agrawal emphasizes the NICU as ideal for genomic implementation given high genetic disease prevalence and intervention opportunities. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!
In this JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights episode, Natalie DelRocco summarizes "Genomic Risk Classifiers in Localized Prostate Cancer: Precise but Not Standardized" by Góes et al. published on September 10, 2025. TRANSCRIPT Natalie DelRocco: Hello and welcome to JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights. I'm your host, Natalie DelRocco, and today we will be discussing the editorial "Genomic Risk Classifiers in Localized Prostate Cancer: Precise but Not Standardized." This editorial by Góes, Li, and Chehrazi-Raffle, and Janopaul-Naylor et al. describes genomic risk classifiers, or GRCs, for patients with localized prostate cancer. Like any risk prediction model, GRCs are intended to help identify groups of patients that may benefit from less intense or more intense anticancer therapy. Risk prediction tools can be difficult to bring into clinical practice; they require a lot of validation. And as the authors describe, GRCs in localized prostate cancer are no exception. The authors of this editorial contextualize an article by Janopaul-Naylor et al., which attempts to retrospectively explore the clinical use of three available GRCs for localized prostate cancer: Decipher, Oncotype DX, and Prolaris. Each of these three GRCs is being used in clinical practice currently. In the original article, all three GRCs were associated with less intense therapy being prescribed in practice. However, the editorial authors note that this is likely selection bias due to the observational nature of the study design. It is conceivable that GRCs were more likely ordered to make decisions for patients who were already thought to be good candidates for less intensive therapy. Another weakness of the retrospective study design is that patient level covariates known to be associated with clinical prognosis in localized prostate cancer, such as staging, Gleason score, prostate specific antigen, were unavailable. The authors note that sampling bias may also be an issue. Uninsured patients are not included in the original article, and therefore may impede the ability to make conclusions about the association of GRC use with income level. The editorial authors highlight important study findings as well as these limitations, such as the heterogeneity of interventions following GRC result return. The Prolaris GRC was found to be associated with more surgical interventions, while the Decipher GRC was associated with more androgen deprivation therapy plus radiation. Additionally, patients with active surveillance were more likely to have a GRC in general ordered. While these conclusions are very interesting, the editorial authors note that further exploration and validation, given the retrospective study design and limitations outlined, are needed to fully understand the impact of GRCs in the practice of treating localized prostate cancer. Thank you for listening to JCO Precision Oncology Article Insights. Don't forget to give us a rating or a review and be sure to subscribe so that you never miss an episode. You can find all ASCO shows atasco.org/podcasts. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.
Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjones Dr. Melissa Ilardo, Ph.D is a professor of evolutionary genomics and biomedical informatics at the University of Utah. Her research explores human evolution and adaptation in populations that have previously been overlooked or excluded from biological research. Her recent work looks into a population who engages in the practice of breath-hold diving & is evolving on a unique breakaway trajectory from the rest of homo sapiens on earth. SPONSORS https://hellofresh.com/danny10fm - Get 10 Free Meals + a Free breakfast for Life! https://cell.ver.so/danny - Use code DANNY to save 15% on your first order. https://butcherbox.com/danny - Get free steak in every box for a year PLUS $20 off your first box. https://whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS https://medicine.utah.edu/faculty/melissa-ilardo https://www.superhumanlab.org https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/science/bajau-evolution-ocean-diving.html https://www.instagram.com/superhumanscilab https://linkedin.com/in/melissa-ilardo FOLLOW DANNY JONES https://www.instagram.com/dannyjones https://twitter.com/jonesdanny OUTLINE 00:00 - Genomic evolution of Baju people (sea nomads) 15:00 - How long Baju can hold their breath for 21:19 - All-female Korean free divers (Haenyeo) 32:17 - Lost species of humans 42:44 - Humans won't survive the next 100,000 years 47:50 - Mother of humanity: The real "Eve" 59:48 - Humans are attracted to mates by pheromones 01:06:30 - Why assisted reproductive technology might be harmful to evolution 01:14:57 - Effects of the global population mixing & mating together 01:21:37 - Risks of CRISPR gene editing 01:30:37 - Lifespan & the grandmother hypothesis 01:37:18 - Evolution of un-contacted indigenous tribes 01:40:50 - What future humans will look like 01:49:08 - Intelligence is not genetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today's guest is Dr. Mark Kiel, Chief Science Officer and Founder at Genomenon. Genomenon is a genomics intelligence company that unlocks real-world evidence from biomedical literature to help pharmaceutical and clinical diagnostics companies inform precision medicine, accelerate patient diagnosis, and guide trial design and label expansion. Mark joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to explore how AI can streamline the extraction, organization, and interpretation of genomic and clinical data, enabling faster, more accurate decision-making in pharmaceutical R&D. He also shares practical approaches to integrating AI with human curation, improving workflow efficiency, and scaling insights for rare disease diagnosis, trial design, and drug development strategy. This episode is sponsored by Genomenon. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!
In this crossover episode with the Functional Breeding Podcast Sarah and friend of the pod Dr Hekman discuss a recent paper revealing some interesting differences between the brains of herding dogs and “normal” dogs, particularly Sarah's beloved border collies. The paper is "Genomic evidence for behavioral adaptation of herding dogs." and you can find it here: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adp4591 Sign up for courses and join the membership here: sarahstremming.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cogdogradio Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay
This episode, I am being interviewed by Sarah Stremming about a recent scientific article about the genetics of behavior in herding breeds and specifically in border collies. I talk about the study's methods and what it all means, and Sarah grounds it in her deep practical experience with herding dogs. Sarah has been on the podcast so many times that she hardly needs an introduction but for new listeners, she is an internationally known dog behavior consultant and speaker. You can learn more about her at sarahstremming.com and I encourage you to check out her podcast, cog dog radio, where this episode is being jointly released. On a personal note I want to let you all know that while I haven't been releasing episodes, this podcast has been very much on my mind. I continue to suffer from chronic fatigue which makes this kind of effort really difficult for me - after recording this episode I was unable to work for the rest of the day. I'm improving but it's very slow going. I am deeply grateful to those on Patreon who continue to support the podcast during this hiatus - that support goes straight to the Functional Dog Collaborative and is much needed and appreciated. Jeong, Hankyeol, Elaine A. Ostrander, and Jaemin Kim. "Genomic evidence for behavioral adaptation of herding dogs." Science Advances 11.18 (2025): eadp4591. https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adp4591
Ancestral Native American Dispersal and Admixture 3. Meltzer describes the dispersal of the first peoples into the Americas, explaining that ancestral Native Americans likely arrived first and made it south of the ice sheets, splitting into Northern and Southern groups with the Southern group dispersing rapidly toward Tierra del Fuego. This rapid dispersal into completely unknown, people-free land suggests dogs—whose genomic history matches human travel—were likely part of their cultural repertoire for defense and hunting. Genomic data reveals that ancient groups later became isolated, developing distinctive genetic markers before experiencing later admixture as mobility increased, and critically shows no ancestral relationship between these first Americans and European, Ainu, or Polynesian populations.
In this episode of The Dairy Podcast Show, Dr. Michael Overton from Zoetis and Meagan Young from VAS bring a new perspective on cow replacement strategies. They discuss the economics of replacement timing, the impact of salvage value, and how keeping cows too long can reduce herd productivity. Learn how data-driven decisions impact profitability and sustainability on dairy operations. Listen now on all major platforms!"Keeping cows longer than necessary often hides economic losses through reduced milk production." - Dr. Michael OvertonMeet the guests: Dr. Michael Overton, Global Dairy Platform Lead at Zoetis, combines veterinary practice, academia, and industry expertise to advance data analytics and economic modeling in dairies. Meagan Young, Voice of Customer Program Manager at VAS, connects producer insights with software solutions like DairyComp to improve herd decision-making. Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you'll learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:19) Introduction(07:34) Herd replacements(08:24) Beef crossbreeding impact(10:19) Economics of heifers(12:28) Herd management choices(24:04) Genomic testing role(26:00) Final three questionsThe Dairy Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:VAS* Evonik* Afimilk* Adisseo* Priority IAC- SmaXtec- Natural Biologics- dsm-firmenich- ICC- Berg + Schmidt- AHV- Protekta
Dr Sharonne Hayes, Professor of cardiovascular medicine and founding director of Mayo Clinic women's heart clinic, and Dr. Marysia Tweet, Associate Professor of cardiovascular medicine, and co-leader of the Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Registry and leader in women's heart health join the show for this amazing November chapter of Always on EM. They are world experts on Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection authoring over 60 peer reviewed articles on the topic and in this chapter we explore with them the pitfalls and pearls related to making this diagnosis in the ED. SCAD is an important cause of myocardial infarction especially in patients who would not otherwise seem to be at risk for heart attacks for example active young women without comorbidities, and its imperitive that we as emergency physicians are current on this diagnosis. DONATE TO DR JIM GREGOIRE SCHOLARSHIP FUND To honor the life of Dr. Jim Gregoire, dear friend of this show, consider donating to his scholarship fund. Go to https://give.mayoclinic.org/give/616870/#!/donation/checkout Go to: What would you like your donation to support? Choose “other” Enter: James Gregoire Scholarship Fund CONTACTS X - @AlwaysOnEM; @VenkBellamkonda; @Marysia_Tweet; @SharonneHayes YouTube - @AlwaysOnEM; @VenkBellamkonda Instagram – @AlwaysOnEM; @Venk_like_vancomycin; @ASFinch; @SharonneHayes Email - AlwaysOnEM@gmail.com DO YOU HAVE SCAD? DOES YOUR PATIENT HAVE SCAD? WANT TO GET CONNECTED? SCAD Research: www.scadresearch.org National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease: www.womenheart.org Mayo Clinic Womens Heart clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/womens-heart-clinic/overview/ovc-20442061 REFERENCES & LINKS Saleh G, Al-Abcha A, Chaaban K, Adi MZ, Tweet M, Collins JD, Alkhouli M, Gulati R. Concomitant Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy and Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Exploring the Role of Cardiac Mechanics on Coronary Disruption. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2025 Oct;18(10):1161-1166. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.05.020. Epub 2025 Aug 5. PMID: 40758075. Baqal O, Karikalan SA, Hasabo EA, Tareen H, Futela P, Qasba RK, Shafqat A, Qasba RK, Hayes SN, Tweet MS, El Masry HZ, Lee KS, Shen WK, Sorajja D. In- hospital and long-term outcomes in spontaneous coronary artery dissection with concurrent cardiac arrest: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart Rhythm O2. 2025 Apr 24;6(6):843-853. doi: 10.1016/j.hroo.2025.03.023. PMID: 40717849; PMCID: PMC12287955. Morosato M, Gaspardone C, Romagnolo D, Pagnesi M, Baldetti L, Dormio S, Federico F, Scandroglio AM, Chieffo A, Godino C, Margonato A, Adamo M, Metra M, Tchetche D, Dumonteil N, Tweet MS, Saw J, Beneduce A. Left Main Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Clinical Features, Management, and Outcomes. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2025 Apr 28;18(8):975-983. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2025.01.427. Epub 2025 Apr 9. PMID: 40208153; PMCID: PMC12290918. Tweet MS, Pellikka PA, Gulati R, Gochanour BR, Barrett-O'Keefe Z, Raphael CE, Best PJM, Hayes SN. Coronary Artery Tortuosity and Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Association With Echocardiography and Global Longitudinal Strain, Fibromuscular Dysplasia, and Outcomes. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2024 May;37(5):518-529. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2024.02.013. Epub 2024 Mar 11. PMID: 38467311; PMCID: PMC11605948. Tweet MS, Hayes SN, Grimaldo ABG, Rose CH. Pregnancy After Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Counseling Patients Who Intend Future Pregnancy. JACC Adv. 2023 Dec;2(10):100714. doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100714. Epub 2023 Nov 14. PMID: 38915307; PMCID: PMC11194843. Tarabochia AD, Tan NY, Lewis BR, Slusser JP, Hayes SN, Best PJM, Gulati R, Deshmukh AJ, Tweet MS. Association of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection With Atrial Arrhythmias. Am J Cardiol. 2023 Jan 1;186:203-208. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2022.09.032. Epub 2022 Oct 31. PMID: 36328832; PMCID: PMC10403149. Murugiah K, Chen L, Dreyer RP, Bouras G, Safdar B, Lu Y, Spatz ES, Gupta A, Khera R, Ng VG, Bueno H, Tweet MS, Spertus JA, Hayes SN, Lansky A, Krumholz HM. Depression and Perceived Stress After Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection and Comparison With Other Acute Myocardial Infarction (the VIRGO Experience). Am J Cardiol. 2022 Jun 15;173:33-38. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2022.03.005. Epub 2022 Mar 29. PMID: 35365290; PMCID: PMC9133198. Johnson AK, Tweet MS, Rouleau SG, Sadosty AT, Hayes SN, Raukar NP. The presentation of spontaneous coronary artery dissection in the emergency department: Signs and symptoms in an unsuspecting population. Acad Emerg Med. 2022 Apr;29(4):423-428. doi: 10.1111/acem.14426. Epub 2021 Dec 26. PMID: 34897898; PMCID: PMC10403148. Murugiah K, Chen L, Dreyer RP, Bouras G, Safdar B, Khera R, Lu Y, Spatz ES, Ng VG, Gupta A, Bueno H, Tweet MS, Spertus JA, Hayes SN, Lansky A, Krumholz HM. Health status outcomes after spontaneous coronary artery dissection and comparison with other acute myocardial infarction: The VIRGO experience. PLoS One. 2022 Mar 23;17(3):e0265624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265624. PMID: 35320296; PMCID: PMC8942215. Adlam D, Tweet MS, Gulati R, Kotecha D, Rao P, Moss AJ, Hayes SN. Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Pitfalls of Angiographic Diagnosis and an Approach to Ambiguous Cases. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2021 Aug 23;14(16):1743-1756. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2021.06.027. PMID: 34412792; PMCID: PMC8383825. Kok SN, Tweet MS. Recurrent spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2021 Mar;19(3):201-210. doi: 10.1080/14779072.2021.1877538. Epub 2021 Feb 26. PMID: 33455483. Campbell KH, Tweet MS. Coronary Disease in Pregnancy: Myocardial Infarction and Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Dec;63(4):852-867. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0000000000000558. PMID: 32701519; PMCID: PMC10767871. Tweet MS, Young KA, Best PJM, Hyun M, Gulati R, Rose CH, Hayes SN. Association of Pregnancy With Recurrence of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Among Women With Prior Coronary Artery Dissection. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Sep 1;3(9):e2018170. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020. PMID: 32965500; PMCID: PMC7512056. Hayes SN, Tweet MS, Adlam D, Kim ESH, Gulati R, Price JE, Rose CH. Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Aug 25;76(8):961-984. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.084. PMID: 32819471. Johnson AK, Hayes SN, Sawchuk C, Johnson MP, Best PJ, Gulati R, Tweet MS. Analysis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, and Resiliency Within the Unique Population of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Survivors. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 May 5;9(9):e014372. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.119.014372. Epub 2020 Apr 28. PMID: 32342736; PMCID: PMC7428589. Tweet MS, Akhtar NJ, Hayes SN, Best PJ, Gulati R, Araoz PA. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: Acute findings on coronary computed tomography angiography. Eur Heart J Acute Cardiovasc Care. 2019 Aug;8(5):467-475. doi: 10.1177/2048872617753799. Epub 2018 Jan 29. PMID: 29376398; PMCID: PMC6027604. Tan NY, Tweet MS. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: etiology and recurrence. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2019 Jul;17(7):497-510. doi: 10.1080/14779072.2019.1635011. Epub 2019 Jul 5. PMID: 31232618. Waterbury TM, Tweet MS, Hayes SN, Eleid MF, Bell MR, Lerman A, Singh M, Best PJM, Lewis BR, Rihal CS, Gersh BJ, Gulati R. Early Natural History of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2018 Sep;11(9):e006772. doi: 10.1161/CIRCINTERVENTIONS.118. PMID: 30354594. Hayes SN, Kim ESH, Saw J, Adlam D, Arslanian-Engoren C, Economy KE, Ganesh SK, Gulati R, Lindsay ME, Mieres JH, Naderi S, Shah S, Thaler DE, Tweet MS, Wood MJ; American Heart Association Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine; and Stroke Council. Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Current State of the Science: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2018 May 8;137(19):e523-e557. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000564. Epub 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29472380; PMCID: PMC5957087. Tweet MS, Kok SN, Hayes SN. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection in women: What is known and what is yet to be understood. Clin Cardiol. 2018 Feb;41(2):203-210. doi: 10.1002/clc.22909. Epub 2018 Mar 1. PMID: 29493808; PMCID: PMC5953427. Tweet MS, Codsi E, Best PJM, Gulati R, Rose CH, Hayes SN. Menstrual Chest Pain in Women With History of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017 Oct 31;70(18):2308-2309. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.08.071. PMID: 29073960; PMCID: PMC5957076. Lindor RA, Tweet MS, Goyal KA, Lohse CM, Gulati R, Hayes SN, Sadosty AT. Emergency Department Presentation of Patients with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. J Emerg Med. 2017 Mar;52(3):286-291. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2016.09. Epub 2016 Oct 8. PMID: 27727035. Tweet MS, Gulati R, Williamson EE, Vrtiska TJ, Hayes SN. Multimodality Imaging for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in Women. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2016 Apr;9(4):436-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2016.01.009. PMID: 27056163. Tweet MS, Gulati R, Hayes SN. What Clinicians Should Know Αbout Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015 Aug;90(8):1125-30. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.05.010. PMID: 26250728. Prasad M, Tweet MS, Hayes SN, Leng S, Liang JJ, Eleid MF, Gulati R, Vrtiska TJ. Prevalence of extracoronary vascular abnormalities and fibromuscular dysplasia in patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Am J Cardiol. 2015 Jun 15;115(12):1672-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2015.03.011. Epub 2015 Mar 23. PMID: 25929580. Goel K, Tweet M, Olson TM, Maleszewski JJ, Gulati R, Hayes SN. Familial spontaneous coronary artery dissection: evidence for genetic susceptibility. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 May;175(5):821-6. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014. PMID: 25798899. Liang JJ, Prasad M, Tweet MS, Hayes SN, Gulati R, Breen JF, Leng S, Vrtiska TJ. A novel application of CT angiography to detect extracoronary vascular abnormalities in patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2014 May-Jun;8(3):189-97. doi: 10.1016/j.jcct.2014.02.001. Epub 2014 Apr 4. PMID: 24939067. Tweet MS, Hayes SN, Pitta SR, Simari RD, Lerman A, Lennon RJ, Gersh BJ, Khambatta S, Best PJ, Rihal CS, Gulati R. Clinical features, management, and prognosis of spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Circulation. 2012 Jul 31;126(5):579-88. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112. Epub 2012 Jul 16. PMID: 22800851. Tweet MS, Gulati R, Aase LA, Hayes SN. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: a disease-specific, social networking community-initiated study. Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Sep;86(9):845-50. doi: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0312. PMID: 21878595; PMCID: PMC3257995. WANT TO WORK AT MAYO? EM Physicians: https://jobs.mayoclinic.org/emergencymedicine EM NP PAs: https://jobs.mayoclinic.org/em-nppa-jobs Nursing/Techs/PAC: https://jobs.mayoclinic.org/Nursing-Emergency-Medicine EMTs/Paramedics: https://jobs.mayoclinic.org/ambulanceservice All groups above combined into one link: https://jobs.mayoclinic.org/EM-Jobs
Get started with 1 month free of Superhuman today, using my link: https://try.sprh.mn/briankeating Today's guest made bacteria immune to every virus that exists. This breakthrough could revolutionize medicine by creating virus proof cell therapies and potentially extending this protection to human cells. Also demonstrating that we can fundamentally rewrite the language of life itself, something that was previously thought impossible. George Church is a Harvard Medical School genetics professor and pioneer of synthetic biology. He's an entrepreneur who's found in multiple biotech companies and is known for pushing the boundaries between science fiction and reality. His team just did something that sounds like pure science fiction. They made living cells completely immune to every virus on Earth. That resistant immune, every single virus that tries to infect your cells just fails. The viruses can't evolve around it. Here's the wild part. They didn't add anything new. They just removed a few letter from the genetic alphabet. But George isn't stopping there. He wants to do this to human cells. He's talking about engineering astronauts for Mars missions, bringing back wooly mammoths, and maybe even, just maybe, making humans virus proof to the implications are staggering. The ethics are murky. And the timeline. Well, if church's track record tells us anything is happening far faster than we think. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00:00 – Church's team made cells virus-proof, a major medical breakthrough 00:02:34 – Radiation resistance may come from DNA repair linked to desiccation 00:04:43 – A few genes can boost bacteria's radiation resistance 00:07:16 – Panspermia is unlikely due to harsh space conditions 00:10:50 – Space travel may need biological, not just physical, changes 00:14:19 – Regenesis explores synthetic biology's potential 00:18:19 – Height involves many genes, but single ones can have big effects 00:20:57 – Once sci-fi, genome sequencing and pig organs are now real 00:23:20 – Church and Venter are more collaborators than rivals 00:27:17 – Rewriting genes can create virus-proof organisms 00:35:36 – DNA can store data, but reading/writing is slow 00:41:06 – Gattaca and Jurassic Park portray genetics well with small flaws 00:44:03 – Gene therapies can be affordable for all 00:46:44 – Stem cells can create any body cell for therapy 00:49:15 – “Mirror humans” are possible but avoided ethically 00:53:59 – Genomic privacy isn't an issue since we shed DNA constantly 00:56:09 – Gene editing helps endangered species adapt, not revive extinct ones 01:00:30 – Virus-proof humans are possible, but tough to deliver to all cells 01:02:59 – Gene therapies could reverse aging at the cellular level 01:04:18 – Church avoids saying “impossible,” but admits to timeline optimism - Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
In this episode of The HemOnc Pulse, host Melissa speaks with Omar Nadeem, MD, Senior Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, about emerging genomic insights in smoldering multiple myeloma. The discussion focuses on recent research showing how molecular profiling can improve understanding of disease progression and refine risk stratification beyond traditional clinical models. Dr. Nadeem highlights how genomic data may help distinguish patients with smoldering myeloma who are at higher risk of progression from those likely to remain stable, offering the potential to guide more personalized treatment decisions. The conversation also explores the evolving landscape of precursor plasma cell disorders and the role of immunotherapy, including CAR T-cell therapy, in clinical management.
“Genomic Selection: Essence, Applications, and Prospects” with Dr. Jianming Yu Genomic Selection is a plant breeding innovation that aims to speed plant breeding by using predictions from a training model enabled by genomics and statistics to guide the breeding decisions. With around thirty years of history around this innovation, it was about time to develop a review on it. Enter Dr. Jianming Yu and his team of coauthors. This episode, we skate the surface of a topic that could go down for miles, covering key areas of genomic selection, what it is, how to use it, and where we can aim to go in the future. Tune in to learn: · How genomic selection was developed · Why genomic selection should be seen as an innovation in rather than alternative to plant breeding · Why growing out crosses still matters · How AI could be integrated to further genomic selection If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.70053 This paper is always freely available. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/. If you would like to reach out to Jianming, you can find him here: jmyu@iastate.edu https://www.agron.iastate.edu/people/yu-jianming/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jianming-yu-92b6617b/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/iowa-state-university-raymond-f-baker-center-for-plant-breeding/ Resources CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b001D06ED-D9AA-F011-BBD3-000D3A599510%7d Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/captions/NjhlZmI3ODYwMWFmOTFkYzdlYWRiMjhhM29MVTM2MVduOEFD/o/Q1AwNDYyNDc5Mzkz CSA News article: https://www.sciencesocieties.org/publications/csa-news/2025/november/essence-of-genomic-selection Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
Part 2 of this installment of Unearthed! features animals, swords, art, shoes, shipwrecks, and the miscellany category of potpourri. Research: Abrams, G., Auguste, P., Pirson, S. et al. Earliest evidence of Neanderthal multifunctional bone tool production from cave lion (Panthera spelaea) remains. Sci Rep 15, 24010 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08588-w Addley, Esther. “English warship sunk in 1703 storm gives up its secrets three centuries on.” The Guardian. 7/31/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/31/british-warship-hms-northumberland-1703-storm-archaeology Alberge, Dalya. “New research may rewrite origins of the Book of Kells, says academic.” The Guardian. 9/26/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/26/new-research-may-rewrite-origins-of-the-book-of-kells-says-academic Alex, Bridget et al. “Regional disparities in US media coverage of archaeology research.” Science Advances. Vol. 11, No. 27. July 2025. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt5435 American Historical Association. “Historians Defend the Smithsonian.” Updated 8/15/2015. https://www.historians.org/news/historians-defend-the-smithsonian/#statement Anderson, Sonja. “Underwater Archaeologists Capture Photos of Japanese Warship That Hasn’t Been Seen Since It Sank During World War II.” Smithsonian. 7/23/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-capture-photos-of-japanese-warship-that-hasnt-been-seen-since-it-sank-during-world-war-ii-180987026/ “Ancient DNA provides a new means to explore ancient diets.” Via PhysOrg. 7/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-dna-explore-diets.html Archaeology Magazine. “Roman Workshop Specialized in Manufacturing Nails.” 9/11/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/09/11/roman-workshop-specialized-in-manufacturing-nails-for-army-boots/ Arnold, Paul. “DNA analysis reveals insights into Ötzi the Iceman's mountain neighbors.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dna-analysis-reveals-insights-tzi.html Arnold, Paul. “Prehistoric 'Swiss army knife' made from cave lion bone discovered in Neanderthal cave.” Phys.org. 7/9/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-prehistoric-swiss-army-knife-cave.html Associated Press. “Divers recover artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship Britannic for the first time.” 9/16/2025. https://apnews.com/article/britannic-titanic-shipwreck-recovery-9a525f9831bc0d67c1c9604cc7155765 Breen, Kerry. “Woman's remains exhumed in Oregon's oldest unidentified person case.” CBS News. 9/24/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oak-grove-jane-doe-remains-exhumed-oregon-unidentified-person-homicide/ Croze, M., Paladin, A., Zingale, S. et al. Genomic diversity and structure of prehistoric alpine individuals from the Tyrolean Iceman’s territory. Nat Commun 16, 6431 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61601-8 Davis, Nicola. “Even Neanderthals had distinct preferences when it came to making dinner, study suggests.” The Guardian. 7/17/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/17/even-neanderthals-had-distinct-preferences-when-it-came-to-making-dinner-study-suggests Durham University. “Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production.” EurekAlert. 9/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1098278 “Archaeologists discover four at-risk shipwrecks on colonial waterfront at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.” 8/4/2025. https://news.ecu.edu/2025/08/04/archaeologists-discover-four-at-risk-shipwrecks-on-colonial-waterfront-at-brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site/ Fratsyvir, Anna. “Polish president-elect urges Ukraine to allow full exhumations of Volyn massacre victims, despite resumed work.” 7/12/2025. https://kyivindependent.com/polands-president-elect-urges-zelensky-to-allow-full-exhumations-in-volyn-as-work-already-resumes/ Fry, Devin and Jordan Gartner. “Coroner’s office identifies man 55 years later after exhuming his body from cemetery.” 7/19/2025. https://www.kltv.com/2025/07/19/coroners-office-identifies-man-55-years-later-after-exhuming-his-body-cemetery/ Guagnin, Maria et al. “12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia's desert.” Phys.org. 10/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-year-art-ancient-sources-arabia.html History Blog. “Medieval leather goods found in Oslo.” 7/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73641 Jana Matuszak, Jana. “Of Captive Storm Gods and Cunning Foxes: New Insights into Early Sumerian Mythology, with an Editoin of Ni 12501.” Iraq. Vol. 86. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/of-captive-storm-gods-and-cunning-foxes-new-insights-into-early-sumerian-mythology-with-an-edition-of-ni-12501/391CFC6A9361C23A0E7AF159F565A911 Kuta, Sarah. “Cut Marks on Animal Bones Suggest Neanderthal Groups Had Their Own Unique Culinary Traditions.” Smithsonian. 7/17/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/ Kuta, Sarah. “Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-sticky-goo-inside-a-2500-year-old-jar-70-years-later-they-finally-know-what-it-is-180987088/ Kuta, Sarah. “Underwater Archaeologists Were Looking for a Lost Shipwreck in Wisconsin. They Stumbled Upon a Different Vessel Instead.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-were-looking-for-a-lost-shipwreck-in-wisconsin-they-stumbled-upon-a-different-vessel-instead-180986990/ Linköping University. “Ancient crop discovered in the Canary Islands thanks to archaeological DNA.” Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ancient-crop-canary-islands-archaeological.html Lucchesi, Madison. “More layoffs at GBH as ‘Defunded’ sign goes viral.” Boston.com. 7/24/2025. https://www.boston.com/news/media/2025/07/24/gbh-layoffs-defunded-sign/ Luscombe, Richard. “‘It’s incredibly exciting’: ancient canoe unearthed after Hurricane Ian stormed through Florida.” The Guardian. 9/28/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/28/florida-ancient-canoes Margalida, Antoni et al. “The Bearded Vulture as an accumulator of historical remains: Insights for future ecological and biocultural studies.” Ecology. Volume 106, Issue 9. 9/11/2025. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70191 Metcalfe, Tom. “300-year-old pirate-plundered shipwreck that once held 'eyewatering treasure' discovered off Madagascar.” Live Science. 7/3/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/300-year-old-pirate-plundered-shipwreck-that-once-held-eyewatering-treasure-discovered-off-madagascar Mondal, Sanjukta. “Ancient Romans likely used extinct sea creature fossils as amulets.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ancient-romans-extinct-sea-creature.html Morris, Steven. “Iron age settlement found in Gloucestershire after detectorist unearths Roman swords.” The Guardian. 7/4/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/04/roman-swords-gloucestershire-villa-iron-age-settlement-discovery Mullett, Russell et al. “Precious finger traces from First Nations ancestors revealed in a glittering mountain cave in Australia.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-precious-finger-nations-ancestors-revealed.html Ocean Exploration Trust. “Expedition reveals 13 shipwrecks from WWII battles off Guadalcanal.” Phys.org. 8/4/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-shipwrecks-wwii-guadalcanal.html Oster, Sandee. “Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fragmentary-ancient-sumerian-myth-years.html Paul, Andrew. “130-year-old butter bacteria discovered in Danish basement.” Popular Science. 9/15/2025. https://www.popsci.com/science/old-butter-basement-discovery/ Penn, Tim. “Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian's Wall—but they don't necessarily mean big Roman feet.” Phys.org. 7/20/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-big-roman-hadrian-wall-dont.html#google_vignette Pogrebin, Robin and Graham Bowley. “Smithsonian Responds to Trump’s Demand for a Review of Its Exhibits.” New York Times. 9/3/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/arts/design/smithsonian-bunch-trump.html Preston, Elizabeth. “Scientists found a 650-year-old shoe in a vulture nest. That’s just the start of it.’ National Geographic. 10/1/2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/vulture-nest-was-hiding-a-650-year-old-shoe Reilly, Adam. “GBH lays off 13 staff at American Experience, pauses production of new documentaries.” GBH. 7/22/2025. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-07-22/gbh-lays-off-13-staff-at-american-experience-pauses-production-of-new-documentaries Richmond, Todd. “Searchers discover ‘ghost ship’ that sank in Lake Michigan almost 140 years ago.” Associated Press. 9/15/2025. https://apnews.com/article/lake-michigan-schooner-shipwreck-door-county-ccff930d8cd87f3597483938f8fb4fd6 Savat, Sarah. “Discovery expands understanding of Neolithic agricultural practices, diets in East Asia.” EurekAlert. 9/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099662 Seb Falk, James Wade, The Lost Song of Wade: Peterhouse 255 Revisited, The Review of English Studies, Volume 76, Issue 326, October 2025, Pages 339–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgaf038 Smith, Kiona N. “Oldest wooden tools in East Asia may have come from any of three species.” Ars Technica. 7/7/2025. https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/did-denisovans-or-homo-erectus-make-the-oldest-wooden-tools-in-east-asia/ The Catholic Herald. “Plans in train to exhume holy remains of martyr St Thomas More.” 7/14/2025. https://thecatholicherald.com/article/plans-in-train-to-exhume-holy-remains-of-martyr-st-thomas-more The History Blog. “1600-year-old iron scale, weights found in Turkey.” 7/10/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73597 The History Blog. “2,500-year-old honey identified in ancient offering.” 7/31/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73776 The History Blog. “Kushan vessel inscribed with woman’s name found in Tajikistan.” 7/8/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73582 The History Blog. “Medieval sword fished out of Vistula in Warsaw.” 7/7/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73574 The History Blog. “Unique 3D mural 3,000-4,000 years old found in Peru.” 7/30/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73769 The White House. “Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials.” 8/12/2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/letter-to-the-smithsonian-internal-review-of-smithsonian-exhibitions-and-materials/ Thorsberg, Christian. “A Tiny Typo May Explain a Centuries-Old Mystery About Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ and ‘Troilus and Criseyde’.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-typo-may-explain-a-centuries-old-mystery-about-chaucers-canterbury-tales-and-troilus-and-criseyde-180986991/ University of Cambridge. “Scholars just solved a 130-year literary mystery—and it all hinged on one word.” 7/16/2025. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250716000855.htm Vindolanda Trust. “Magna Shoes.” 7/2/2025. https://www.vindolanda.com/news/magna-shoes Whiddington, Richard. “$2 Thrift Store Plate Turns Out to Be Rare Chinese Porcelain Worth Thousands.” Artnet. 8/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/market/chinese-porcelain-uk-thrift-store-auction-2680013 Whiddington, Richard. “Famed Antikythera Shipwreck Yields More Astonishing Discoveries.” Artnet News. 7/16/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/antikythera-shipwreck-more-discoveries-2668217 Whiddington, Richard. “Scholars Crack 130-Year-Old Mystery Behind a Lost Medieval Epic.” 7/17/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/song-of-wade-mystery-chaucer-2668558 Whiddington, Richard. “Sunken Clues Reveal Identity of Mysterious Scottish Shipwreck.” Artnet. 7/25/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/scotland-shipwreck-sanday-2671342 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Part one of this quarter's installment of Unearthed! features things related to books and letters, and edibles and potables, and as we usually do, we are starting this installment of Unearthed with updates. Research: Abrams, G., Auguste, P., Pirson, S. et al. Earliest evidence of Neanderthal multifunctional bone tool production from cave lion (Panthera spelaea) remains. Sci Rep 15, 24010 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08588-w Addley, Esther. “English warship sunk in 1703 storm gives up its secrets three centuries on.” The Guardian. 7/31/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/31/british-warship-hms-northumberland-1703-storm-archaeology Alberge, Dalya. “New research may rewrite origins of the Book of Kells, says academic.” The Guardian. 9/26/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/26/new-research-may-rewrite-origins-of-the-book-of-kells-says-academic Alex, Bridget et al. “Regional disparities in US media coverage of archaeology research.” Science Advances. Vol. 11, No. 27. July 2025. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt5435 American Historical Association. “Historians Defend the Smithsonian.” Updated 8/15/2015. https://www.historians.org/news/historians-defend-the-smithsonian/#statement Anderson, Sonja. “Underwater Archaeologists Capture Photos of Japanese Warship That Hasn’t Been Seen Since It Sank During World War II.” Smithsonian. 7/23/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-capture-photos-of-japanese-warship-that-hasnt-been-seen-since-it-sank-during-world-war-ii-180987026/ “Ancient DNA provides a new means to explore ancient diets.” Via PhysOrg. 7/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-dna-explore-diets.html Archaeology Magazine. “Roman Workshop Specialized in Manufacturing Nails.” 9/11/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/09/11/roman-workshop-specialized-in-manufacturing-nails-for-army-boots/ Arnold, Paul. “DNA analysis reveals insights into Ötzi the Iceman's mountain neighbors.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dna-analysis-reveals-insights-tzi.html Arnold, Paul. “Prehistoric 'Swiss army knife' made from cave lion bone discovered in Neanderthal cave.” Phys.org. 7/9/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-prehistoric-swiss-army-knife-cave.html Associated Press. “Divers recover artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship Britannic for the first time.” 9/16/2025. https://apnews.com/article/britannic-titanic-shipwreck-recovery-9a525f9831bc0d67c1c9604cc7155765 Breen, Kerry. “Woman's remains exhumed in Oregon's oldest unidentified person case.” CBS News. 9/24/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oak-grove-jane-doe-remains-exhumed-oregon-unidentified-person-homicide/ Croze, M., Paladin, A., Zingale, S. et al. Genomic diversity and structure of prehistoric alpine individuals from the Tyrolean Iceman’s territory. Nat Commun 16, 6431 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61601-8 Davis, Nicola. “Even Neanderthals had distinct preferences when it came to making dinner, study suggests.” The Guardian. 7/17/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/17/even-neanderthals-had-distinct-preferences-when-it-came-to-making-dinner-study-suggests Durham University. “Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production.” EurekAlert. 9/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1098278 “Archaeologists discover four at-risk shipwrecks on colonial waterfront at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.” 8/4/2025. https://news.ecu.edu/2025/08/04/archaeologists-discover-four-at-risk-shipwrecks-on-colonial-waterfront-at-brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site/ Fratsyvir, Anna. “Polish president-elect urges Ukraine to allow full exhumations of Volyn massacre victims, despite resumed work.” 7/12/2025. https://kyivindependent.com/polands-president-elect-urges-zelensky-to-allow-full-exhumations-in-volyn-as-work-already-resumes/ Fry, Devin and Jordan Gartner. “Coroner’s office identifies man 55 years later after exhuming his body from cemetery.” 7/19/2025. https://www.kltv.com/2025/07/19/coroners-office-identifies-man-55-years-later-after-exhuming-his-body-cemetery/ Guagnin, Maria et al. “12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia's desert.” Phys.org. 10/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-year-art-ancient-sources-arabia.html History Blog. “Medieval leather goods found in Oslo.” 7/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73641 Jana Matuszak, Jana. “Of Captive Storm Gods and Cunning Foxes: New Insights into Early Sumerian Mythology, with an Editoin of Ni 12501.” Iraq. Vol. 86. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/of-captive-storm-gods-and-cunning-foxes-new-insights-into-early-sumerian-mythology-with-an-edition-of-ni-12501/391CFC6A9361C23A0E7AF159F565A911 Kuta, Sarah. “Cut Marks on Animal Bones Suggest Neanderthal Groups Had Their Own Unique Culinary Traditions.” Smithsonian. 7/17/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/ Kuta, Sarah. “Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-sticky-goo-inside-a-2500-year-old-jar-70-years-later-they-finally-know-what-it-is-180987088/ Kuta, Sarah. “Underwater Archaeologists Were Looking for a Lost Shipwreck in Wisconsin. They Stumbled Upon a Different Vessel Instead.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-were-looking-for-a-lost-shipwreck-in-wisconsin-they-stumbled-upon-a-different-vessel-instead-180986990/ Linköping University. “Ancient crop discovered in the Canary Islands thanks to archaeological DNA.” Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ancient-crop-canary-islands-archaeological.html Lucchesi, Madison. “More layoffs at GBH as ‘Defunded’ sign goes viral.” Boston.com. 7/24/2025. https://www.boston.com/news/media/2025/07/24/gbh-layoffs-defunded-sign/ Luscombe, Richard. “‘It’s incredibly exciting’: ancient canoe unearthed after Hurricane Ian stormed through Florida.” The Guardian. 9/28/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/28/florida-ancient-canoes Margalida, Antoni et al. “The Bearded Vulture as an accumulator of historical remains: Insights for future ecological and biocultural studies.” Ecology. Volume 106, Issue 9. 9/11/2025. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70191 Metcalfe, Tom. “300-year-old pirate-plundered shipwreck that once held 'eyewatering treasure' discovered off Madagascar.” Live Science. 7/3/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/300-year-old-pirate-plundered-shipwreck-that-once-held-eyewatering-treasure-discovered-off-madagascar Mondal, Sanjukta. “Ancient Romans likely used extinct sea creature fossils as amulets.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ancient-romans-extinct-sea-creature.html Morris, Steven. “Iron age settlement found in Gloucestershire after detectorist unearths Roman swords.” The Guardian. 7/4/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/04/roman-swords-gloucestershire-villa-iron-age-settlement-discovery Mullett, Russell et al. “Precious finger traces from First Nations ancestors revealed in a glittering mountain cave in Australia.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-precious-finger-nations-ancestors-revealed.html Ocean Exploration Trust. “Expedition reveals 13 shipwrecks from WWII battles off Guadalcanal.” Phys.org. 8/4/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-shipwrecks-wwii-guadalcanal.html Oster, Sandee. “Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fragmentary-ancient-sumerian-myth-years.html Paul, Andrew. “130-year-old butter bacteria discovered in Danish basement.” Popular Science. 9/15/2025. https://www.popsci.com/science/old-butter-basement-discovery/ Penn, Tim. “Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian's Wall—but they don't necessarily mean big Roman feet.” Phys.org. 7/20/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-big-roman-hadrian-wall-dont.html#google_vignette Pogrebin, Robin and Graham Bowley. “Smithsonian Responds to Trump’s Demand for a Review of Its Exhibits.” New York Times. 9/3/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/arts/design/smithsonian-bunch-trump.html Preston, Elizabeth. “Scientists found a 650-year-old shoe in a vulture nest. That’s just the start of it.’ National Geographic. 10/1/2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/vulture-nest-was-hiding-a-650-year-old-shoe Reilly, Adam. “GBH lays off 13 staff at American Experience, pauses production of new documentaries.” GBH. 7/22/2025. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-07-22/gbh-lays-off-13-staff-at-american-experience-pauses-production-of-new-documentaries Richmond, Todd. “Searchers discover ‘ghost ship’ that sank in Lake Michigan almost 140 years ago.” Associated Press. 9/15/2025. https://apnews.com/article/lake-michigan-schooner-shipwreck-door-county-ccff930d8cd87f3597483938f8fb4fd6 Savat, Sarah. “Discovery expands understanding of Neolithic agricultural practices, diets in East Asia.” EurekAlert. 9/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099662 Seb Falk, James Wade, The Lost Song of Wade: Peterhouse 255 Revisited, The Review of English Studies, Volume 76, Issue 326, October 2025, Pages 339–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgaf038 Smith, Kiona N. “Oldest wooden tools in East Asia may have come from any of three species.” Ars Technica. 7/7/2025. https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/did-denisovans-or-homo-erectus-make-the-oldest-wooden-tools-in-east-asia/ The Catholic Herald. “Plans in train to exhume holy remains of martyr St Thomas More.” 7/14/2025. https://thecatholicherald.com/article/plans-in-train-to-exhume-holy-remains-of-martyr-st-thomas-more The History Blog. “1600-year-old iron scale, weights found in Turkey.” 7/10/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73597 The History Blog. “2,500-year-old honey identified in ancient offering.” 7/31/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73776 The History Blog. “Kushan vessel inscribed with woman’s name found in Tajikistan.” 7/8/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73582 The History Blog. “Medieval sword fished out of Vistula in Warsaw.” 7/7/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73574 The History Blog. “Unique 3D mural 3,000-4,000 years old found in Peru.” 7/30/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73769 The White House. “Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials.” 8/12/2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/letter-to-the-smithsonian-internal-review-of-smithsonian-exhibitions-and-materials/ Thorsberg, Christian. “A Tiny Typo May Explain a Centuries-Old Mystery About Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ and ‘Troilus and Criseyde’.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-typo-may-explain-a-centuries-old-mystery-about-chaucers-canterbury-tales-and-troilus-and-criseyde-180986991/ University of Cambridge. “Scholars just solved a 130-year literary mystery—and it all hinged on one word.” 7/16/2025. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250716000855.htm Vindolanda Trust. “Magna Shoes.” 7/2/2025. https://www.vindolanda.com/news/magna-shoes Whiddington, Richard. “$2 Thrift Store Plate Turns Out to Be Rare Chinese Porcelain Worth Thousands.” Artnet. 8/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/market/chinese-porcelain-uk-thrift-store-auction-2680013 Whiddington, Richard. “Famed Antikythera Shipwreck Yields More Astonishing Discoveries.” Artnet News. 7/16/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/antikythera-shipwreck-more-discoveries-2668217 Whiddington, Richard. “Scholars Crack 130-Year-Old Mystery Behind a Lost Medieval Epic.” 7/17/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/song-of-wade-mystery-chaucer-2668558 Whiddington, Richard. “Sunken Clues Reveal Identity of Mysterious Scottish Shipwreck.” Artnet. 7/25/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/scotland-shipwreck-sanday-2671342 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Dr. Debbie Hipps, a pioneering GP and primary care lead, joins Ben to explore how genomic medicine is transforming general practice. From enhancing risk assessments, family history evaluations, and cancer treatments to driving the NHS's shift from reactive to preventative care, Debbie highlights the urgent need for GPs and pharmacists to upskill in this fast-evolving field. We discuss practical tools like the Genomics Education Programme, real-world examples such as managing Lynch syndrome, and the broader challenges of integrating genomics into primary care, while looking ahead to a future of more precise, personalised treatments. Introduction (00:10) Genomic medicine (01:43) Genomics in the 10 year plan (02:28) How is genomic medicine being used in general practice now? (03:21) What makes something genomic medicine? (07:02) What genetic tests are available for patients? (07:53) Examples of practices who regularly use the testing.. (11:45) The near future.. (13:10) Staying up to date.. (16:13) Services across the UK.. (17:19) Resources (19:01) Can it make the shift from treatment to prevention.. (19:31) Access the RCGP Genomic Toolkit and Curriculum Guidance here. Access the Genomics Education Programme: Genomics in Primary Care here. Access the Genetic Test Ordering in Primary Care Resources here. Access the Genomic notes for clinicians here. Visit the Gateway C Course: The role of Genomics in Primary Care here. Visit the Futurelearn: the Future of Genetics in Medicine Online Course here. Download the Genomics information on an App here (Please note - only currently available for SE, NThames and East regions) North Thames GMSA Educational Resources can be accessed here. eLearning for Health Genomics in Healthcare is found here. For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
As it was in the Garden of Eden, where the serpent changed the biological makeup of God's creation, so it goes again with the Fallen Ones using mad science to create an abomination on Earth. Genomic technologies are driving a vast expansion in digitalized data, from gene sequences and entire genomes that link genes to specific functions and other types of metadata for humans, other animals, plants, and microbes. A prime example includes the development of customized bioweapons. America's adversaries can direct biological attacks, specifically at US livestock and crops, to create a food security crisis. Another way is for the harvesting and pirating of DNA for racial targeting. Humanity is at a crossroads. It has to avoid both biotechnological calamity and the reign of the Antichrist. Listen to Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis M-F from 7-10 pm, pacific time on groundzeroplus.com. Call in to the LIVE show at 503-225-0860. #groundzeroplus #clydelewis #genome #DNA #biological
In this week's episode, we'll learn more about relationships between Epstein-Barr virus genomic variants and human diseases, including hematological malignancies; the presence and timing of somatic GATA1 mutations and their relationship to a Down syndrome-specific form of leukemia; and new definitions for high-risk multiple myeloma that emphasize the presence of two or more high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities.Featured Articles:Association of Epstein-Barr virus genomic alterations with human pathologiesClinical significance of preleukemic somatic GATA1 mutations in children with Down syndromeBiallelic antigen escape is a mechanism of resistance to anti-CD38 antibodies in multiple myeloma
JCO PO authors Dr. Abhishek Tripathi and Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center share insights into their article, “Comparative Genomic Characterization of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Compared With Urothelial Carcinoma and Small Cell Lung Carcinoma.” Host Dr. Rafeh Naqash and Drs. Tripathi and Jaime-Casas discuss a novel understanding of the genomic alterations underlying SCBC, revealing actionable mutations that could serve as potential targets for improved clinical outcomes. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Hello and welcome to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations, where we bring you engaging conversations with authors of clinically relevant and highly significant JCO PO articles. I am your host, Dr. Dr. Rafeh Naqash, Podcast Editor for JCO Precision Oncology and Associate Professor at the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma. Today, I am thrilled to be joined by Dr. Abhishek Tripathi, Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics Research at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as his mentee, Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas, postdoctoral research fellow and first author of the JCO Precision Oncology article entitled "Comparative Genomic Characterization of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Compared with Urothelial Carcinoma and Small Cell Lung Carcinoma". At the time of this recording, our guest disclosures will be linked in the transcript. Abhishek and Salvador, welcome to our podcast and thank you for joining us today. This is a very interesting topic given that at least the landscape for neuroendocrine carcinomas, where small cell lung cancer is on one end of the spectrum, has been changing, at least on the lung cancer side, with recent approvals and some new ADCs. So, of course, understanding the genomic and transcriptomic similarities or differences between pulmonary small cell and extrapulmonary small cell is of huge interest. Could you tell us a little bit about small cell bladder cancer, current approaches to treatment of small cell bladder cancer, and then why you wanted to investigate that in this project as far as the genomic differences or similarities are concerned? Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. I am very excited to be here. And really what served as backbone for this research project was the notion that there is a currently evolving genomic landscape in the area of bladder cancer. We know this is a highly heterogeneous disease when it comes to molecular underpinnings and mutational profile. Specifically, we know that the most common histologic subtype is urothelial carcinoma. Small cell bladder cancer represents a histology that is found in less than 1% of all bladder cancer cases. However, it is one of the most aggressive histologies. It presents with a very poor prognosis to patients and very poor response to treatment, which is why we attempted to really elucidate what is the mutational profile behind this and provide a comparison contrast between small cell bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer, and conventional urothelial carcinoma. As your question mentioned, in terms of treatment, the conventional urothelial carcinoma and small cell bladder cancer are two distinct pathways when it comes to treatment algorithms. We know that in the current era there are newer and newer drugs being developed for conventional urothelial carcinoma. We have perioperative immunotherapy in the context of metastatic disease. We have antibody-drug conjugates such as enfortumab vedotin. But really, this amazing track record of drug development hasn't been mirrored in small cell bladder cancer. And here most of the therapy is usually extrapolated from studies from other small cell histologies like you mentioned earlier, small cell lung cancer has given some form of background in terms of what therapies are used here. Cytotoxic chemotherapy, for some patients with localized disease and small cell bladder cancer, concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy or perioperative cytotoxic chemotherapy have been the cornerstone of treatment for many years now. However, like I mentioned, the oncologic outcomes are very suboptimal when it comes to comparing it with other disease histologies, which is why we really wanted to describe the landscape here and provide this comparison across three different groups. For this particular study, we leveraged the Tempus dataset. So, include patients with urothelial carcinoma with small cell bladder cancer and small cell lung cancer. We included their demographic information, as well as the frequency of most common genomic alterations identified. And really, it was a very comparable Table 1. We see the demographic data across the three groups was very similar. One key thing that we identified was the female prevalence was a little bit lower in patients with small cell bladder cancer when compared to small cell lung cancer. But other than that, the age, race, ethnicity, was comparable across groups, and even the smoking history. Most of the patients in this cohort were former smokers, which we believe comes to explain that regardless of any mutational profile that we talked about in a few minutes, there are shared commonalities between these histologies and shared environmental exposures and risk factors that are going to be implicated in the disease biology for these three histologies. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you so much, Salvador, for that useful background. I would like to shift to Abhishek real quick. Abhishek, you are a practicing clinician, you have led several studies in the GU space, especially bladder. Based on what you see in the small cell lung cancer space, how drug development is shaping up, which aligns with what you are trying to evaluate in this paper as targets, how do you see some of that being implemented for small cell bladder cancer in the current era and age? Abhishek Tripathi: Thanks so much for the excellent question, Rafeh. As a GU investigator, small cell bladder cancer has always lagged behind in some regards regarding enrollment abilities for the novel clinical trials. And small cell lung cancer has paved the way and led the development of a lot of these drugs across the board. With the most recent sort of drugs targeting DLL3 already approved and several antibody-drug conjugates currently in development. That actually translates really well to how we should approach drug development in bladder cancer. What we saw in the study is that although there are overlaps and similarities between small cell lung cancer and small cell bladder cancer, there are also certain differences. So the long-term assumption that all therapies for small cell bladder cancer can be extrapolated to small cell bladder], may or may not be true, and I think it is high time that we specifically investigate these novel agents in tissue-specific small cell carcinomas. To that effect, we are excited to be participating in trials that are looking at some of the novel DLL3 targeted agents, specifically bispecific antibodies and T cell engagers so to speak, and antibody-drug conjugates that are now starting to open enrollment specifically in non-lung cancer cohorts to evaluate its efficacy. So overall, I think studies like this have the opportunity to identify more putative targets for organ-specific development of these novel agents. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Absolutely, I could not agree more. I think tumor-agnostic therapies definitely have a place, but not all therapies work the same in different tumors with a similar histological or genomic background because there are definitely differences. So now going to the comparison that Salvador, you guys did in this project, could you help us understand what are some of the things you looked at, what were some of the commonalities and the differences, and what were some of the conceptual thoughts that come out from those results? Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas: Of course. So, the first thing that we identified was which were the most frequent molecular alterations across these histologies. We actually provided a table showcasing how the most common mutations that we identified were TP53, TERT, RB1. However, like Dr. Tripathi mentioned, the distinction between these histologies is notable in the sense that some are more predominant in small cell-pertaining cancers such as bladder cancer and lung cancer. While some others are more common in bladder-pertaining malignancies like urothelial carcinoma and small cell bladder cancer. For instance, we saw that TP53 and RB1 were significantly more evident in small cell histologies, both small cell bladder cancer and small cell lung cancer, as opposed to conventional urothelial carcinoma, which really this mirrors what is known about these mutations and what has been published. These are markers associated with more aggressive disease with a worse prognosis and even to resistance to treatment. We also identified how TERT mutations were characteristically more prevalent in small cell bladder cancer as opposed to small cell lung cancer, as well as in urothelial carcinoma. TERT mutations were more commonly identified than in small cell lung cancer. And we give a long list of these mutations that we identified, but really what we wanted to underscore here was, A, the most common mutations across histologies; B, the most common co-occurring mutations where we saw that these are not mutually exclusive. A lot of patients had co-occurring TP53 and RB1 or RB1 and TERT or RB1 and ARID1A, really elucidating how heterogeneous this molecular landscape is across histologies. And the third one that we believe really brings down the clinical impact of this research was evidencing the idea of clinically actionable mutations. We also provided a table here showcasing how mutations like FGFR, DLL notch pathway, HER2, were evident in these histologies, and what is the current status of some clinical trials evaluating different drug designs for these mutations. Like Dr. Tripathi mentioned in the context of FGFR, approximately 6% of our cohort with small cell bladder cancer showcased mutations in FGFR3. However, up to 14% of them had mutations in any FGFR gene, which really underscores the notion that drugs like erdafitinib, which have been introduced in the market in recent years, could potentially showcase some response in the space of small cell bladder cancer. We actually provide the description of two trials, phase two, phase three trials, that are evaluating erdafitinib in the context of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and even metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Like Dr. Tripathi mentioned as well, antibody-drug conjugates, another very interesting area of drug development targeting HER2, we included evidence on how disitamab vedotin and trastuzumab deruxtecan are currently being explored across different phase two and phase three clinical trials, both as part of basket trial designs for solid malignancies expressing HER2, but also for patients with urothelial carcinoma where there is evidence of HER2 expression. So, we believe that the landscape is shifting in the right direction in the sense that therapies are becoming much more personalized and targeted against these known molecular profiles. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you, Salvador, for summarizing some of those very interesting results and providing a very unique conceptual context to that. I would like to go to Abhishek this last portion. Of course, I am sure you guys will expand on this work and there are a lot of other interesting things that will likely come out from this work and hopefully you will publish that in JCO PO. But one of the very important things that I wanted to highlight from this podcast specifically was the science is obviously very interesting, but I feel the more important interesting aspect is giving trainees and fellows, residents, mentorship opportunities, mentoring them and giving them lead roles in projects like this, which is what Dr. Tripathi has successfully done for you in this project, Salvador. So, Abhishek, as somebody I have known for a couple of years now, more than a couple of years, as a very successful clinical translational investigator in the GU space in the early phase setting, Abhishek, really briefly, within a minute, could you tell us about your journey and what are some of the things that have worked for you as an early career investigator that you have learned from, and then your journey of mentorship, how has that been for you and what are some of the things that you take home from your mentorship role? Abhishek Tripathi: Absolutely. And as you mentioned, mentorship has been pivotal for all early career investigators for them to really succeed. So, my journey, as you know, I started off as an early career investigator at another institution, and I think I owe it to my mentors even at that time and even now who are helping me develop some of these newer translational and clinical trial ideas, creating opportunities where we could really showcase some of the interesting work that we are doing. That actually goes a long way in terms of creating independence as an established investigator. And I think the sooner we start off with mentorship prospects, I think the better it is. And paying it forward, I think I have been lucky to have mentees like Salvador who are just extremely talented, really committed, and goal-oriented. He really led the project right from the beginning in terms of initial analyses and looking up all the sort of correlative studies that we could do and the contextual data between small cell lung cancer and bladder cancer that we have delved into for the past several years. And it really showcases the ability of young mentees like Salvador to really excel given the right guidance and the support. As a mentor, it has been a really rewarding experience. It is really helpful to actually learn from some of these mentees as well as to approach the same problem from a different angle and different thought process and guide them through the study. So, it has been incredibly helpful and rewarding both being a mentee and a mentor over the past several years as I have transitioned. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you, Abhishek, for those very insightful comments on how both being a mentee and being a mentor helps shape you as an individual as well. And then you take a lot of pride in the success of your mentees. Now real quick, Salvador, could you tell us a little bit about yourself, you know, how you ended up at City of Hope under Dr. Tripathi's mentorship and what are some of the next important things that you are looking forward to doing? Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas: So, a little bit about who I am. I did medical school in Mexico City. I was born and raised there, and towards the end of my medical training, I started to be engaged in research projects. And through one of my mentors in Mexico, I was actually introduced to the team here at City of Hope, including Dr. Tripathi. And through this, we got the opportunity to have some conversations about what I wanted to do, become a physician-researcher in the area of genitourinary oncology and hopefully my transition to residency in a few years. And that is how I came to be his mentee here at City of Hope. I think it has been a very rewarding experience, like Dr. Tripathi said, having such an incredible mentor and really being with him both in the academic setting and in the clinical setting, in patients with clinic, seeing this curiosity and all these clinical trials, all of this evidence that we have coming together to generate this insight. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you so much for both the scientific insights, as well as the journey of being a mentee for you, Salvador, and as a mentor for you, Abhishek. I really enjoyed talking to you guys about both aspects here today and hopefully we will see more of your work, Abhishek and Salvador, as far as understanding the transcriptomic heterogeneity in neuroendocrine tumors or neuroendocrine cancers of the bladder. Dr. Salvador Jaime-Casas: Thank you very much. Thank you for having us. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you for listening to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations. Do not forget to give us a rating or review and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find all ASCO shows at ASCO.org/podcasts. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Dr. Abhishek Tripathi Disclosures Consulting or Advisory Role: Company: Aadi biosciences, Seattle Genetics/Astellas, Exelixis, Bayer, Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Deka biosciences Speakers' Bureau: Company: Sanofi
In this episode of Behind the Genes, we explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being applied in genomics through cross-sector collaborations. Genomics England and InstaDeep are working together on AI and machine learning-related projects to accelerate cancer research and drive more personalised healthcare. Alongside these scientific advances, our guests also discuss the ethical, societal and policy challenges associated with the use of AI in genomics, including data privacy and genomic discrimination. Our guests ask what responsible deployment of AI in healthcare should look like and how the UK can lead by example. Our host, Francisco Azuaje, Director of Bioinformatics Genomics England is joined by Dr Rich Scott, Chief Executive Officer at Genomics England Karim Beguir - Chief Executive Officer at InstaDeep Harry Farmer – Senior Researcher at Ada Lovelace Institute If you enjoyed today's conversation, please like and share wherever you listen to your podcasts. And for more on AI in genomics, tune in to our earlier episode: Can Artificial Intelligence Accelerate the Impact of Genomics? "In terms of what AI's actually doing and what it's bringing, it's really just making possible things that we've been trying to do in genomics for some time, making these things easier and cheaper and in some cases viable. So really it's best to see it as an accelerant for genomic science; it doesn't present any brand-new ethical problems, instead what it's doing is taking some fairly old ethical challenges and making these things far more urgent." You can download the transcript, or read it below. Francisco: Welcome to Behind the Genes. [Music plays] Rich: The key is to deliver what we see at the heart of our mission which is bringing the potential of genomic healthcare to everyone. We can only do that by working in partnership. We bring our expertise and those unique capabilities. It's about finding it in different ways, in different collaborations, that multiplier effect, and it's really exciting. And I think the phase we're in at the moment in terms of the use of AI in genomics is we're still really early in that learning curve. [Music plays] Francisco: My name is Francisco Azuaje, and I am Director of Bioinformatics at Genomics England. On today's episode I am joined by Karim Beguir, CEO of InstaDeep, a pioneering AI company, Harry Farmer, Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, and Rich Scott, CEO of Genomics England. Today we will explore how Genomics England is collaborating with InstaDeep to harness the power of AI in genomic research. We will also dive into the critical role of ethical considerations in the development and application of AI technologies for healthcare. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, share on wherever you listen to your podcasts. [Music plays] Let's meet our guests. Karim: Hi Francisco, it's a pleasure to be here. I am the Co-Founder and CEO of InstaDeep and the AI arm of BioNTech Group, and I'm also an AI Researcher. Harry: I'm Harry Farmer, I'm a Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, which is a think-tank that works on the ethical and the societal implications of AI, data and other emerging digital technologies, and it's a pleasure to be here. Rich: Hi, it's great to be here with such a great panel. I'm Rich Scott, I'm the CEO of Genomics England. Francisco: Thank you all for joining us. I am excited to explore this intersection of AI and genomics with all of you. To our listeners, if you wish to hear more about AI in genomics, listen to our previous podcast episode, ‘Can Artificial Intelligence Accelerate the Impact of Genomics', which is linked in this podcast description. Let's set the stage with what is happening right now, Rich, there have been lots of exciting advances in AI and biomedical research but in genomics it's far more than just hype, can you walk us through some examples of how AI is actually impacting genomic healthcare research? Rich: Yeah, so, as you say, Francisco, it is a lot more than hype and it's really exciting. I'd also say that we're just at the beginning of a real wave of change that's coming. So while AI is already happening today and driving our thinking, really we're at the beginning of a process. So when you think about how genomics could impact healthcare and people's health in general, what we're thinking about is genomics potentially playing a routine part in up to half of all healthcare encounters, we think, based on the sorts of differences it could make in different parts of our lives and our health journey. There are so many different areas where AI, we expect, will help us on that journey. So thinking about, for example, how we speed up the interpretation of genetic information through to its use and the simple presentation of how to use that in life, in routine healthcare, through to discovery of new biomarkers or classification that might help us identify the best treatment for people. Where it's making a difference already today is actually all of those different points. So, for example, there's some really exciting work we're doing jointly with Karim and team looking at how we might use classification of the DNA sequence of tumours to help identify what type of tumour - a tumour that we don't know where it's come from, so what we call a ‘cancer of unknown primary' - to help in that classification process. We're also working with various different people who are interested in classification for treatment and trials, but there's also lots in between recognising patterns of genomic data together with other complex data. So we've been doing a lot of work bringing image data together with genomic data and other health data so that you can begin to recognise patterns that we couldn't even dream of. Doing that hand in hand with thinking about what patients and participants want and expect, how their data is used and how their information is held, bringing it all together and understanding how this works, the evidence that we need before we can decide that a particular approach is one that policymakers, people in healthcare want to use, is all part of the conversation. Francisco: Thank you, Rich, for speaking of cutting-edge AI applications and InstaDeep. Karim, could you give us a glimpse into your work and particularly how your technologies are tackling some of the biggest challenges in genomic research? Karim: Absolutely, and I think what's exciting is we've heard from Rich and, you know, this is like the genomics expertise angle of things and I come from the AI world and so do most of the InstaDeep team. And really what's fascinating is this intersection that is being extremely productive at the moment where technologies that have been developed for like multiple AI applications turn out to be extremely useful in understanding genomic sequences. This is a little bit, our journey, Francisco. Back in 2021/2022 we started working on the very intriguing question at the time of could we actually understand better genomic sequences with the emerging technologies of NLP, natural language processing. And you have to put this in context, this was before even the word ‘generative AI' was coined, this was before ChatGPT, but we had sort of like an intuition that there was a lot of value in deploying this technology. And so my team, sort of like a team of passionate experts in research and engineering of AI, we tackled this problem and started working on it and the result of this work was our nucleotide transformer model which we have open sourced today; it's one of the most downloaded, most popular models in genomics. And what's interesting is we observed that simply using the technologies of what we call ‘self-supervised learning' or ‘unsupervised learning' could actually help us unlock a lot of patterns. As we know, most of genomics information is poorly understood and this is a way actually, with using the AI tool, to get some sense of the structure that's there. So how do we do this? We basically mask a few aspects of the sequence and we ask the system to figure them out. And so this is exactly how you teach a system to learn English, you know, you are teaching it to understand the language of genomics, and, incredibly, this approach when done at scale - and we train a lot on the NVIDIA Cambridge-1 supercomputer – allows you to have results and performances that are matching multiple specialised models. So until then genomics and use of machine learning for genomics was for a particular task, I would have developed a specific model using mostly supervised learning, which is, I am showing you a few examples, and then channelled these examples and tried to match that, and so essentially you had one model per task. What's really revolutionary in this new paradigm of AI is that you have a single model trained at very largescale, the AI starts to understand the patterns, and this means that very concretely we can work with our partners to uncover fascinating relationships that were previously poorly understood. And so there is a wealth of potential that we are exploring together and it's a very exciting time. Francisco: What you're describing really highlights both the potential and the opportunities but also the responsibility we have with these powerful tools, its power, and this brings up some important ethical considerations. And we have Harry… Harry, we have talked about ethics frameworks in research for decades but AI seems to be rewriting the rulebook. For your work at the Ada Lovelace Institute what makes AI fundamentally different from previous technologies when it comes to ethical considerations and how does this reshape our approach to ensuring these powerful tools benefit society as a whole? Harry: So I think when you are considering these sorts of ethical questions and these sorts of ethical challenges posed by AI and genomics it really depends on the sort of deployment that you're looking at. From the conversation we've had so far, I think what's been hinted at is some of the diversity of applications that you might be using AI for within the context of genomics and healthcare. So I think there's obviously big advances that have been alluded to in things like drug discovery, in things like cancer and cancer diagnosis, also these advances around gene editing, all of which have been on steroids, by artificial intelligence and particularly machine learning and deep learning. The area that we have been looking at at the Ada Lovelace Institute, and this was a project that we were doing in collaboration with the NCOB, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, was looking at what we were calling ‘AI-powered genomic health prediction', which is very related to a technique called ‘polygenic scoring', for those who might be interested. And that's looking at the emerging ability to make predictions about people's future health on the basis of their DNA, and it was thinking about what that ability might mean for UK society and also for how we are thinking about and delivering healthcare in the UK. Now, thinking about what the ethical challenges might be for that, I think you need to think about what specifically AI is bringing to that technique, so what it's bringing to genomic health prediction. I think with some of the other deployments, the list of things that AI is bringing is quite similar, so it's helping with data collection and processing, so speeding up and automating data collection and preparation processes that otherwise are quite slow and very labour-intensive. AI's also helping with the analysis of genomic and phenotype data, so helping us to understand the associations between different genomic variations and between observable traits, and this is something which without AI can often be prohibitively complex to do, and it's also sometimes suggested that on the deployment end AI can be a tool that can help us use genomic insight in healthcare more widely. So one example of this might be using an AI chat bot to explain to a patient the results of a genomic test. That's something that's only been mooted and I don't think there are current examples of that at the moment but that's one of the downstream applications of AI in the context of genomics. So in terms of what AI's actually doing and what it's bringing, it's really just making possible things that we've been trying to do in genomics for some time, making these things easier and cheaper and in some cases viable. So really it's best to see it as an accelerant for genomic science; it doesn't present any brand-new ethical problems, instead what it's doing is taking some fairly old ethical challenges and making these things far more urgent. So in terms of what those problems actually are, some of the big ones will be around privacy and surveillance, genomic health predictions produce a lot of intimate sensitive data about people and generating those insights requires the collection and the storage and the processing of a lot of very sensitive data as well. We also have issues related to privacy around genomic discrimination, so this is the worry that people will be treated differently and in some cases unfairly on the basis of health predictions made about them. And one of the really typical examples here is the worry that people might face higher insurance costs if they're found through genomic testing to be more likely to develop particular diseases over their life course. And then you also have a bunch of issues and questions which are more structural, so these are questions about how the availability of this kind of insight into people's future health might change or put pressure on existing ways of thinking about health and thinking about healthcare and some extreme cases thinking about the social contract. So these are questions like does the viability of genomic health prediction lead to a radically more preventative approach to healthcare and what might this mean for what the state demands of you as a user of healthcare and as a recipient of that. And there are also some important questions about the practicalities of delivering genomic medicine in the NHS, so questions like how does the NHS retain control and sovereignty over genomic analysis and data capacities, how do we test their efficacy at a public health level, and also – and this is something that we might talk about a bit later – what's the best deployment model for these capacities. So that's some of the ethical and I think policy challenges that we need to be dealing with in this space. Francisco: Thank you, Harry. And those principles you have outlined provide a solid foundation for discussing different types of applications. [Music plays] Let's talk about the InstaDeep and Genomics England partnership that is investigating the application of InstaDeep's powerful foundation model, the nucleotide transformer, and other cutting edge techniques to address several challenges in cancer research. I have the privilege of working closely with this partnership and the potential here is immense. Karim, could you break down for our listeners what you are working on together and what innovations you are aiming for? Karim: Absolutely, Francisco. Actually, we are very excited by the collaboration with Genomics England. Genomics England not only has one of the best data assets in the world when it comes to genomics, like a very well curated dataset but also a wealth of expertise on these topics, and on my side the InstaDeep team brings fundamental knowhow of machine learning models but also, as you mentioned, like powerful developed models already, such as our nucleotide transformer and others. The culture of InstaDeep has always been to build AI that benefits everyone – this is literally in our mission – and so in particular, specifically on like current topics, really like the goal is to try to identify partners between genomic sequences of patients and the particular phenotypes or approaches. And one of the key projects, which I mentioned that, is the one of cancer of unknown primary origin. So when you have situations where you are not sure where a particular cancer emerged from it is critical to be able to extract this information to have the best potential care, and this is actually something where understanding of genomic sequences can bring this capability. And so we've been getting some successful results in the collaboration but in many ways this is just the beginning. What we are seeing is a great wealth of possibilities linking genotypes, so the information which is on the sequences themselves, the genomic sequences, and phenotypes, like the particular state of the patient, and the fact that the Genomics England team has those joint datasets creates incredible opportunities. So we are looking at this really like identifying together what are the most useful ‘low-hanging fruits', if you want, in terms of like potentially improving a patient's care and moving forward from that. Francisco: And this collaborative approach you are describing raises questions about accelerating innovation in general. When two organisations like Genomics England and InstaDeep come together it's like a multiplier effect in terms of expertise, data, and other resources. Could you both share how this partnership is accelerating discoveries that might have taken years? Rich: Yeah, I mean, I think this… Francisco, you frame it really nicely because this is what makes it so exciting to be in our position at Genomics England because what we do is we bring the particular understanding and expertise, digital infrastructure and custodianship of the National Genomic Research Library together, but actually the key is bringing the potential of genomic healthcare to everyone. We can only do that by working in partnership, we bring our expertise and those capabilities. And, as you say, it's about finding it in different ways, in different collaborations, that multiplier effect, and it's really exciting. And I think the phase we're in at the moment in terms of the use of AI in genomics is we're still really early in that learning curve. And so, as you've heard already through what Karim and I have said and also what Harry has said, there are multiple different aspects that we need to look at together, bringing different angles and understandings, and we see ourselves… We often describe ourselves as a ‘data and evidence engine', that final word ‘evidence' is really important and it comes in the round. So Harry really eloquently talked about a number of different considerations from an ethical perspective that need to be there. What we need if we're going to move genomics forwards in terms of its potential to make a difference for people's lives, we need evidence around clinical efficacy of different approaches, that's absolutely a given and everyone always jumps at… so it's almost first in line. We need understanding about the health economics, you know, how much difference does it make for a particular investment, is it worth that investment. Critically, it also is founded on, you know, how you might use this technology in different ways, how you use it in clinical pathways, you know, is it something that actually is addressing the particular questions which really hold back the delivery of better care. Also in that evidence piece is an understanding of patients' and participants' expectations on how their data might be used, their expectations on privacy, the expectations that we have on understanding how equitable the use of a particular approach might be, or at least our understanding of how confident we are about the equity of the impact, and it's bringing together those different perspectives. And that's one of the things that helps us construct the team at Genomics England so we have the expertise to help others access the data in the National Genomic Research Library for purposes our participants support but also help generate that sort of rounded package of evidence that will end up moving the dial. So that it's not just about proving a cool widget, because that's great on its own, what drives Karim and the team is to make a difference in terms of outcomes, and that's exactly what drives us and our participants too. Francisco: And this and other partnership approaches brings up important questions about responsible innovation, and this naturally leads us to the next question for Harry, how do we harness these powerful tools when protecting our communities? Harry: Yeah, so if we are thinking about over-surveillance and the ways that vulnerable groups might be affected by the use of genomics and healthcare, I think we're talking about at least two different things here. So one problems around the representativeness of data is it does lead to issues which you could classify as issues of differential accuracy. So in the context of genomic prediction what you have is genomic predictive tools being more accurate for white Europeans and those with white European ancestry compared to other population groups. And this is a product of the fact that genomic datasets and genomic predictions, the terminologies don't port well between different populations, which means if you train a genomic predictive tool on a bunch of people with white European ancestry the predictions you might make using that tool for other groups won't be as accurate as for the white Europeans. And this can be actively harmful and dangerous for those in underrepresented groups because you are making predictions about people which just won't have the accuracy that you would expect in the context that you were deploying it. And I already mentioned this a bit in my previous answer, you have worries about discrimination, and there are a few different things here. So with some historically marginalised groups and marginalised groups now there are longstanding historical sensitivities about being experimented on, about particular fears about eugenics and about being categorised in particular ways. And it's worth saying here that there is obviously a racial dimension to this worry but I think there's also a class dimension, by which I mean you're far more vulnerable to being categorised unfavourably if you're poor or if you don't have a particular kind of status within society. There is also within discrimination the idea that genomics might be used to explain away differences between different groups which in fact have a political or an economic basis. So one example of this was during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were attempts by some commentators to explain away the fact that non-white communities had worse rates of mortality from COVID to try and attribute a genetic or a genomic basis to those differences rather than looking at some of the socioeconomic factors behind that. So those are some worries as well. Now, when it comes to protecting particular groups I think there are a few things that can be done fairly straightforwardly. So, one is work to improve the diversity and the representativeness of datasets. Obviously, that's easier said than done, though it's a very clear thing that we can aspire towards and there is good work, I'm aware, that is going on in this space, some of which is being spearheaded by Genomics England, amongst other groups. Another is just being very careful about how the results of population level genomic studies are communicated to avoid giving that impression of explaining away differences between different groups simply as things determined by genomics about which we can do nothing rather than things which have historical or socioeconomic bases. But I also think the broader lesson is that some of these harms and these forms of discrimination are things that could theoretically affect anyone; they're not just limited to affecting marginalised groups. Genomic health predicting can produce bases for all of us to be discriminated against, things that have nothing to do with our race, our class, our sex or any other protected characteristic. So I think there has to be thinking about how we establish or sure up more universal protections against genomic discrimination. One thing that we can do here is simply stronger data protection law, and one of the things that we talk about in some of our reports is that how data protection law as it stands could do with being less ambiguous when it comes to how it treats genomic data and phenotype data produced as a result of genomic analysis. [Music plays] Francisco: Harry, you are in a unique position at the Ada Lovelace Institute where you bridge this gap between AI developers, researchers, policymakers and the public. Your recent report on AI in genomics with the Nuffield Council on Bioethics offers an important blueprint for responsible AI innovation in general, so based on this cross-sector perspective, what guiding principles do we need to embrace as we navigate this intersection of AI and genomics? Harry: So I think in addition to the specific recommendations we set out in the final report of that work - which is called ‘Predicting the Future of Health' and which you can find on our website and also on the NCOB website – I think one of the biggest messages was the importance of finding a deployment model for genomic health prediction that respects that technology's strengths, what it can actually do, because there are limitations to this technology, and also which avoids circumstances in which the associated risks are difficult to deal with. So another way of putting this is that we need a deployment model that, as well as making sure that we're ready to cope with the risks of genomic health prediction, the things like law, regulation and governance also proactively tries to design out some of those risks and finds ways of deploying this technology such that those risks don't present themselves in either as extreme a manner or don't present themselves in ways which makes them difficult to deal with. So one question that we posed in our research was whether some ways of integrating genomic health prediction may present more challenges regarding privacy, discrimination and then these other challenges that we'd identified around dependency and fragility and others. And having looked at some of the different broad approaches to using genomic health prediction within the NHS and within the UK's health system, we found that one presented by far fewest of the risks identified above, while still presenting some of the most certain benefits of genomic health prediction. And this was using it really primarily as a targeted diagnostic tool - and this is a vision in which the NHS uses genomic health prediction quite sparingly in the first instance - and in situations to improve treatment and outcomes for those who are seriously ill or who have been identified as needing to take particular precautions regarding their health. We think the more situational vision has a few advantages. So one, is it allows patient and people using the health service to retain greater control over data. We think that can also have a positive knock-on effect for worries about discrimination. And here what you have is the absence of those pressures to share your data. It means that it's easier for you as the user of the healthcare system to resist genomic discrimination simply by keeping your data private. And there are some cases where that option… it shouldn't be the only option but where that option is really important. And then also one of the features of this vision is that the smaller scale of the use of genomic health prediction, presumed, can make outsourcing to third parties, which the NHS is probably likely to need to do in some cases. It's also a vision, I think, that overall allows you to capture some of the more certain benefits to genomic health prediction which are about improvements to accuracy in predictions about people's future health at the margin, and therefore this is a deployment of this technology which is deploying it principally to people who will benefit and we know will benefit from marginal improvements in accuracy to predictions made about their future health rather than wanting to deploy those marginal improvements to the vast majority of the population where the benefit is less certain. So this is a vision we hope sets out a way of getting some of the more certain benefits of this technology while minimising some of those broader more systemic risks. Francisco: Thank you, Harry. Karim? Karim: Totally agree with Harry about the need for smart regulation in the field so that we make sure we have good uses of the technology but avoid the potential pitfalls. I wanted to emphasise two points which I believe are important. First, we are really in a fast-moving situation when we look at like AI progress. We have seen incredible improvements over the last ten years and in particular what we call ‘artificial general intelligence', which is essentially systems that are matching human cognitive abilities, are now around the corner. This might sound surprising but literally the last obstacles to reach AGI are being solved right now, and this means that in the next 12-24 months you will have systems that are incredibly capable. So this emphasises the need for the type of measures and type of smart approach that Harry has described. And I would say when you look at the intersection of AI and genomics this is a particularly important one and why it's the case, because so far in genomics our obstacle has not been data, it has been interpretation of a flood of data. The progress that AI is making, like I just described now, means that very soon extraordinary capabilities will be available to improve patients' outcomes. I want to inject a sense of how important is our conversation today, given what is happening, an exponential progress in AI, exponentially growing data in genomics and relatively exponential potential to build the technology for good. But, like in other fields, we see that AI is an extremely powerful technology and we need to make sure it is used for good in fact and this is why the conversation that we have today is so important. Harry: Obviously I agree with the conclusion to all of this, is that we need to think very hard about the way that artificial intelligence and its deployment in healthcare and also just in many different walks of life is going to be affecting the way we think about public service delivery, affecting the way that we think about scientific development. It's worth noting, though, that I think one of the biggest challenges from a policy perspective on artificial intelligence is being able to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. There are obviously areas where AI has made huge and incredibly impressive progress over the past few years and where we reasonably expect that to continue over the next few years, but there are also areas where some of the stories being told about the capabilities of future systems probably won't be matched by the reality, but there is I think a really big and very live debate about exactly what we can reasonably expect from these technologies and therefore what the deployments of them are. Francisco: Thank you. We are approaching the end of the episode and I'd like to conclude with a couple of questions. Genomics England has built quite an ecosystem of industry partnerships, how do collaborations like the one with InstaDeep fit into your broader mission for the company? Rich: So linking this to the conversation that we've just been having, which is AI is making a real difference in terms of technologies that we can test, we can develop evidence on, and that is rightly creating excitement, I think our approach… The expectation of our participants is that our role is to sit there and help people develop evidence and you can make judgments on policy based on those and that is what will drive adoption. I think the thing that really excites me for the UK, most particularly in genomics, is our ability to be the place in the world where you can come with a new technology, whether it's genomic sequencing technology, whether it's a genomic AI approach to train that to develop evidence on its efficacy, and, if it's proven to be effective to be worth the bang for the buck to perform to the expectations that patients, the public, would have of it in terms of equity and so forth also to deploy it. I think there is a real reason for excitement around that and it's a real opportunity that the government has highlighted and that we absolutely buy into that the UK can be the best place to do that for academics and for industry. And our participants see real opportunity and are eager for that work to be done so that we have the evidence on which to decide what should be deployed and where. We see opportunities in all sorts of different areas, so certainly in terms of drug discovery and all the way through to simplifying tasks which at the moment just limit the rate at which the existing uses of genomics in healthcare can happen. So I think there's opportunities across the whole length, if you like, the sort of end to end, and the breadth of opportunity, and industry, companies like InstaDeep and others that we work with, are really crucial to that. And what we do is think about the digital infrastructure we need to, you know, have those teams able to interact with within the National Genomic Research Library carrying out their approved research projects. Also what support they need, and that comes in different shapes and sizes, depending on the ask and also the company. So sometimes sort of leaning in more, particularly at the start of programmes, to help people shape the question, working with our participants, thinking about the wider evidence that you might need, for example, those sort of things that Harry's touched on, but also thinking about what hands-on support companies need, because not every company is anywhere close to Karim and InstaDeep's expertise. Sometimes this is also about supporting people to have some of those tools that they don't have or some of the knowhow that's very specific to areas of genomics, so it's absolutely crucial to it. And I think that point of the UK being the place to come and develop that evidence in its full breadth so that policy decisions can be made not based on hype but on evidence in the round, on what will make a difference. Francisco: And, Karim, looking ahead, also in retrospect, what have been your key learnings about making this cross-sector partnership work? Karim: We live in an extraordinary time and I want to emphasise the potential of scientific discovery in the next two or three years. AI is going to move from, let's say, digital style, you know, technologies like coding and maths towards more like science and biology. In particular, genomics is going to be a fascinating area in terms of potential, and I agree with Rich and Harry, it's all in the end about proving on the ground the potential of those capabilities. And at InstaDeep we are passionate about the tech – I think you might have felt that – but we're also passionate about the applications. The best results come when you bring expertise from multiple domains; machine learning and AI experts will require the expertise of genomic experts, biologists, healthcare practitioners, to be able to translate the potential of those technologies in concrete outcomes. And we've seen this on multiple successful projects we've done with Genomics England but really this suggests that we are going to have in the next 3-5 years way more progress than we had in the last five and really my wish is that collectively we seize this opportunity and we do it in a responsible and thoughtful manner. [Music plays] Francisco: We'll wrap up there. Thank you to our guests, Karim Beguir, Harry Farmer and Rich Scott, for joining me today as we discuss the role of AI in genomics research. If you wish to hear more like this, please subscribe to Behind the Genes on your favourite podcast app. Thank you for listening. I have been your host, Francisco Azuaje. This podcast was edited by Bill Griffin at Ventoux Digital and produced by Naimah Callachand. [Music plays]
In this episode, Drs William J. Gradishar, Heather McArthur, and Joanne Mortimer address audience questions from a recent live event on the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors in patients with early and metastatic breast cancer, including:Genomic testing options for assessing risk of recurrenceAdjuvant treatment duration and holidays with CDK4/6 inhibitorsManaging renal toxicities, prophylaxis for DVT, and asymptomatic ILDCDK4/6 inhibitors with inavolisib and fulvestrantPresenters:William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCOBetsy Bramsen Professor of Breast OncologyRobert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer CenterNorthwestern UniversityChicago, IllinoisHeather McArthur, MD, MPH, FASCOProfessor, Department of Internal MedicineClinical Director, Breast Cancer ProgramKomen Distinguished Chair in Clinical Breast Cancer ResearchUT Southwestern Medical CenterDallas, TexasJoanne Mortimer, MD, FACP, FASCOVice Chair, Medical OncologyProfessor, Division of Medical Oncology & Experimental TherapeuticsAssociate Director for Education and TrainingBaum Family Professor of Women's CancersCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer CenterDuarte, CaliforniaLink to full program:https://bit.ly/4osHLTm
In this episode of The Dairy Podcast Show, Dr. Hinayah Rojas, from Purdue University, shares valuable insights into the rapidly evolving field of genomics in dairy cattle. Dr. Rojas breaks down the challenges and opportunities presented by longitudinal traits like milk production, discussing how genomic tools are helping to boost sustainability across the industry. Additionally, Dr. Rojas offers advice on balancing motherhood with a demanding professional life. Listen now on all major platforms!"The lactation curve is complex, but genomics allows us to select animals not only for higher milk production but also for better lactation persistence."Meet the guest: Dr. Hinayah Rojas de Oliveira is an Assistant Professor of Genomics and Animal Breeding at Purdue University. She holds a PhD in Animal Sciences, focusing on Genetics and Animal Breeding, from the Federal University of Viçosa in Brazil. Dr. Rojas has completed postdoctoral work at the University of Guelph and Purdue University and previously worked as a Geneticist at Lactanet Canada. Her research aims to develop statistical models that maximize genetic progress while preserving diversity in livestock species.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you'll learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:30) Introduction(02:35) Dr. Rojas's journey(08:52) Genomics in dairy cattle(11:55) Longitudinal traits(14:30) Genomic & efficiency(17:11) Sustainability & genomics(28:35) Final questionsThe Dairy Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:* Adisseo* Lallemand* Priority IAC* Evonik- ICC- AHV- Protekta- Natural Biologics- SmaXtec- Berg + Schmidt- dsm-firmenich
******Support the channel******Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenterPayPal: paypal.me/thedissenterPayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuyPayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9lPayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpzPayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9mPayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on******Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoBFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is interested in the development of connectivity in the brain, specifically in how this process is controlled by genes and how mutations in such genes affect the connectivity of neuronal circuits, influence behavior and perception and contribute to disease. His latest book is Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will. In this episode, we start by talking about free will. We discuss free will at the molecular level and the different levels of analysis. We discuss top-down causation and process philosophy. We talk about decision-making, why certain possibilities spring to mind and not others, and why it can pay off to behave randomly sometimes. We also discuss whether AI could have free will. We then talk about Dr. Mitchell's debates with Dr. Robert Sapolsky, and how we should reframe the free will debate within science. We discuss the genomic code, and how the genome instantiates a generative model of the organism. Finally, we talk about the science and ethics of human embryo editing, and the trouble with eugenics.--A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, ROBINROSWELL, KEITH RICHARDSON, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, AND CHARLOTTE ALLEN!A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, AND PER KRAULIS!AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, ROSEY, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!
How to unlock the power of precision medicine to make sure your patients get the best, personalized treatment plan. Credit available for this activity expires: 7/29/26 Earn Credit / Learning Objectives & Disclosures: https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/implementing-comprehensive-genomic-profiling-your-oncology-2025a1000jnt?ecd=bdc_podcast_libsyn_mscpedu
Think butterfly genomics is a simple topic? Think again, but this time think alongside Zac MacDonald and Julian Dupuis. Not only are they answering some of the most interesting contemporary conservation questions, but they're doing so using a very curious butterfly as their model organism. “One of the difficult things with studying these kinds of butterflies….is we don't really understand fitness or adaptive value as well as we do in cougars or in foxes or in dogs or in other vertebrates that we've studied a lot more.” Julian says. “We don't really have these characteristic signals of, what does inbreeding depression look like? We just don't have that kind of information in butterflies.”Listen in to learn about cutting edge genomics from certified self-described “crazy butterfly people” and expand your idea of what is possible in conservation.Zac and Julian's paper “Genomic and ecological divergence support recognition of a new species of endangered Satyrium butterfly (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)” is in volume 1234 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1234.143893A transcript of this episode can be found here: Zac Macdonald and Julian Dupuis - TranscriptNew Species: Satyrium curiosolusEpisode image credit: MacDonald et. al (2025)Follow Zac on instagram: @wild_about_the_wild_thingsAnother paper by Zac and Julian on the future of butterfly conservation: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17657Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Join The Beyond Terrain Community for free:https://beyond-terrain.circle.so/join?invitation_token=08c95fc3df8ff802b3bd05091df70e5a7bf0f297-2ceb428c-0b15-4d16-be23-81d5a8adb098Links:Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUr5PW1r1oE&list=PLV0S9i-xQu5WHh2mgQ0aSd0Hm0ecemXm3&ab_channel=BeyondTerrainIn this episode, Dr. Jerneja Tomsic joins us to unravel the myths and misconceptions surrounding the genetic code, RNA, and gene editing.We begin by questioning the very foundation of modern biology—the so-called genetic code—and explore how much of what we believe is built on assumptions, models, and indirect inferences rather than direct observation.The conversation moves into the world of RNA, exposing the exaggerated claims about its role and supposed “superpowers” in diagnostics, vaccines, and cellular control.We then dive into paternity testing, forensic genetics, and heredity, raising serious questions about their reliability, interpretation, and the circular logic often used in these fields.Finally, we tackle the boldest claim of all: gene editing. We discuss GMO foods, to the GMO babies in china, revealing gene editing is more fantasy than science.A powerful and eye-opening episode that invites critical thinking and reclaims clarity in a field clouded by hype and narrative.Keep up with me (socials)https://www.instagram.com/beyond.terrain/https://beyondterrain.com/Our vision at Beyond Terrain is greatly supported by sharing our work!Become a Founding Member in the community!https://beyond-terrain.circle.so/checkout/founding-memberLearn more from and support our esteemed guest, Dr. Tomsichttps://x.com/zianiniSLO
Matters Microbial #98: Nesting Dolls of Endosymbiosis July 3, 2025 Today, Dr. John McCutcheon of Arizona State University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the work he and his research group do to investigate the strategies by which microbes become symbionts of other cells. After all, the mitochondria and chloroplasts of eukaryotic cells, including yours, were once bacteria! Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: John McCutcheon Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A video about the symbiosis of Hydra virdissima, which captured my heart when I was young. Look at those symbiotic algae! Here is an overview of this topic. A video describing the Rhizobium – legume nitrogen fixing symbiosis in all of its glory—by my PhD advisor, the great Dr. Sharon Long. Here is an overview of this topic. An appreciation of Paul Buchner's very important book, “Endosymbiosis of Animals with Plant Microorganisms.” A wonderful review by Dr. McCutcheon on how symbioses form. A wonderful essay by Ed Yong about an event that made eukaryotic cells possible: how bacteria became mitochondria. A story about an anaerobic protist that lost its mitochondria completely. A bacterial symbiont of mitochondria, the “midichlorian.” The recent discovery of a new integrated symbiont that has become an organelle, the nitrosome. The “X-bacteria” and amoebae story. A retrospective on endosymbiosis, and Paramecium based on Tracey Sonneborn's work. An essay on aphids and bacteria. An article on the Moranella/Tremblaya symbiosis. An article on “bacteria inside other bacteria” found in several symbioses, written by Dr.McCutcheon and colleagues. Genomic instability in bacterial endosymbionts. An article on cicadas and bacterial endosymbionts from Dr. McCutcheon and colleagues. An article on mealybugs and bacterial endosymbionts from Dr. McCutcheon and colleagues. Dr. McCutcheon's thoughts on his career path (so worth reading). The Center for Mechanisms of Evolution research institute in which Dr. McCutcheon works. Dr. McCutcheon's faculty website. Dr. McCutcheon's (and his research team's) wonderful research website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com
UCSF oncologist Dr. Jonathan Chou discusses how genetics and genomics are transforming the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. He explains how inherited and acquired mutations—especially in DNA repair genes like BRCA2—can impact both cancer risk and treatment decisions. Dr. Chou outlines how UCSF researchers use tumor and blood-based biopsies to identify key mutations and genomic features that help tailor care for each patient. Examples include how genomic scores can predict response to radiation and how targeted therapies like PARP inhibitors benefit patients with specific mutations. The talk highlights the growing role of precision medicine in guiding individualized treatment plans based on the unique genetic profile of each patient's cancer. Series: "Prostate Cancer Patient Conference" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 40798]
In this episode, Professor Asim Surani, shares how his extensive research has significantly advanced the understanding of how the mammalian germline is specified, the mechanisms governing epigenetic reprogramming, and the critical conditions that maintain genomic integrity during early development. The discussion, led by Dr. Stefan Dillinger, provides an overview of Surani's journey into biology, the evolution of his research interests, and the pivotal discoveries that have shaped the field of epigenetics. Dr. Surani discusses the groundbreaking experiment he co-conducted in 1984 that led to the discovery of genomic imprinting. Initially a student involved in in vitro fertilization at Cambridge, he became intrigued by the implications of parthenogenesis in mammals. Challenging the prevailing cytoplasmic theory of development, Surani and his collaborators demonstrated that normal mammalian development requires contributions from both parental genomes, leading to the introduction of the concept of genomic imprinting—a term Surani defended to describe the phenomenon that he and his team observed. Surani's research then evolved toward understanding the mechanisms of genomic imprinting, particularly the role of DNA methylation. Throughout the interview, he details specific experiments that elucidated how genes could exhibit imprinted expression depending on the parental lineage, highlighting the importance of epigenetic factors in gene regulation. The revelation that DNA methylation marks were responsible for imprinting solidified the connection between genetic information and epigenetic influence in development. The conversation dives deeper into the mechanisms involved in germline specification and epigenetic reprogramming. Surani explains his transition into studying mammalian germline development and the intricacies of primordial germ cell specification. Working with his team, he utilized single-cell approaches to investigate gene expression profiles specific to germ cells, identifying critical factors like PRDM1 and PRDM14 that repress somatic gene programs while initiating germline-specific pathways. This work underscored the complex interplay of genetic and epigenetic factors that govern the development of germ cells. Another focus of the interview is the comparison of epigenetic resetting between mouse and human germlines. Surani addresses key differences in the timing and mechanisms of epigenetic reprogramming in humans, particularly the involvement of specific factors such as SOX17, which emerged as a crucial player in human germline specification, contrary to his earlier expectations. The discussion also highlights the technical challenges researchers face when studying human embryos due to ethical constraints, driving innovation in model systems such as stem cells to explore germline development. References Surani MA, Barton SC, Norris ML. Development of reconstituted mouse eggs suggests imprinting of the genome during gametogenesis. Nature. 1984 Apr 5-11;308(5959):548-50. doi: 10.1038/308548a0. PMID: 6709062. Surani MA, Barton SC, Norris ML. Nuclear transplantation in the mouse: heritable differences between parental genomes after activation of the embryonic genome. Cell. 1986 Apr 11;45(1):127-36. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90544-1. PMID: 3955655. Ohinata Y, Payer B, O'Carroll D, Ancelin K, Ono Y, Sano M, Barton SC, Obukhanych T, Nussenzweig M, Tarakhovsky A, Saitou M, Surani MA. Blimp1 is a critical determinant of the germ cell lineage in mice. Nature. 2005 Jul 14;436(7048):207-13. doi: 10.1038/nature03813. Epub 2005 Jun 5. PMID: 15937476. Hajkova P, Ancelin K, Waldmann T, Lacoste N, Lange UC, Cesari F, Lee C, Almouzni G, Schneider R, Surani MA. Chromatin dynamics during epigenetic reprogramming in the mouse germ line. Nature. 2008 Apr 17;452(7189):877-81. doi: 10.1038/nature06714. Epub 2008 Mar 19. PMID: 18354397; PMCID: PMC3847605. Related Episodes Epigenetic Reprogramming During Mammalian Development (Wolf Reik) Epigenetic and Metabolic Regulation of Early Development (Jan Żylicz) Epigenetic Mechanisms in Genome Regulation and Developmental Programming (James Hackett) Epigenetic Mechanisms of Mammalian Germ Cell Development (Mitinori Saitou) Exploring DNA Methylation and TET Enzymes in Early Development (Petra Hajkova) Contact Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Dr. Stefan Dillinger on LinkedIn Active Motif on LinkedIn Active Motif on Bluesky Email: podcast@activemotif.com
Robert walks Langston Kerman through the story of Dr. George Church, a very real scientist who co founded the company making bullshit claims of "de extincting" dire wolves. (2 Part Series) Sources: George Church, Colossal W*nker – For Better Science Can Gene Therapy Slow Ageing in Dogs? - Gowing Life Never-ageing Anti-aging to cure COVID-19 – For Better Science The original sins of Leonard Guarente – For Better Science Jeffrey Epstein Hoped to Seed Human Race With His DNA - The New York Times Biologist George Church apologizes for contacts with Jeffreyticl Epstein Genetics Company Wants To Bring Iconic Tasmanian Tiger Back From Extinction - Newsweek Gene editing company hopes to bring dodo ‘back to life’ | Extinct wildlife | The Guardian Jeffrey Epstein-Funded Geneticist Is Building a Dating App That Only a Eugenicist Could Love George Church Explains How DNA Will Be Construction Material of the Future - DER SPIEGEL Geneticist George Church gets funding for lab-grown woolly mammoths Wooly Mammoth De-extinction Scientist Reveals Plan To Create 'Arctic Elephant' - Newsweek Bringing back dinosaurs or making new ones? – DW – 06/10/2015 ‘If you’re not failing, you’re probably not trying as hard as you could be’ — Harvard Gazette CRISPR gene editing on human embryos may be dangerous Here are some actual facts about George Church’s DNA dating company | MIT Technology Review Scientist on the Loose: George Church Strays Into Eugenics—Again | Center for Genetics and Society So...What do we think of Colossal Biosciences? : r/pleistocene The "de-extinction" of the woolly mammoth, a "Colossal" hoax? - Genomic chronicles | Medicine/Science Hiltzik: New frontiers in pseudoscientific baloney - Los Angeles Times Colossal Liar Wolves – For Better Science Meet The Disruptors: How Ben Lamm & Hypergiant Are Shaking Up the Space and AI Industries | by Jason Hartman | Authority Magazine | Medium Millionaire Ben Lamm Warns Against Entrepreneurship - Great Entrepreneurs The Serial Entrepreneur Turned Billionaire: Ben Lamm’s Tech and Science Revolution | Where Business News Meets Thought Leadership How 39-year-old Ben Lamm has started five companies Meet Ben Lamm: The World's First De-extinction Billionaire - Forbes India Oral history interview with George M. Church - Science History Institute Digital Collections Dr. George Church, Founding Father of Genomics | News | W.I. The Church Of George Church The World Has a Data Storage Problem. Is DNA the Answer? - proto.life DNA: The Future of Data Storage?. DNA, with its amazing storage… | by Nithil Krishnaraj | TechTalkers | Medium See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This fascinating episode on health and wellness features Michael Snyder, a Professor in Stanford University School of Medicine's Department of Genetics. Michael is widely considered a leader in the field of functional genomics and proteomics – and is a major participant of the ENCODE project. Trained as a microbiologist, Michael is dedicated to gaining a global perspective on health care. Because many aspects of our medical system are broken, he is focused on refining the fields of genomics and proteomics with cutting-edge research. How is technology changing the way we monitor our bodies? Michael sits down to explain… Join the conversation now to find out: Measurements used to indicate when and if someone is getting sick. How your resting heart rate is connected to your immune system. The benefits of using a smartwatch as a health monitor. How monitoring presymptomatic individuals can be used to identify upcoming diseases. You can learn more about Michael and his work by visiting his laboratory website! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
2/2: #BIOWEAPON. PRC suspect of weaponizing genomic research/technology acquired from America. Craig Singleton, FDD. 1961