Quirks and Quarks od CBC
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Kategorije: Znanost i Medicina
Slušaj posljednju epizodu:
A Nobel prize for understanding how genes are turned on and off
The early-morning call from Sweden came on Monday to American molecular biologist Gary Ruvkun for his work in discovering microRNAs, which are essential for regulating genetic activity in plants and animals. Ruvkun says that research based on this work helps us understand basic biology, but has also provided significant insight into disease and might even help us understand whether there is life on other planets.
Biologists discover a new microbial world in your bathroom
Researchers have found a new biodiversity hotspot. Environmental microbiologist Erica Hartmann and her team sampled showerheads and toothbrushes in ordinary bathrooms, and found a host of bacteria and hundreds of previously unknown viruses. But don’t panic: much of this new life are bacteriophages — viruses that infect bacteria — which are harmless to humans and could be potential weapons against the bacteria that can cause human disease. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiomes.
How we might zap an asteroid on a collision course with Earth
A new experiment using the world’s most powerful radiation source has shown the way to deflecting asteroids with X-rays. The X-rays were used to vaporize some of the surface of a model asteroid, creating a rocket-like effect. Dr Nathan Moore, a physicist at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, says it's a proof of principle for the concept of deflecting a real asteroid using X-rays generated by a powerful nuclear explosion. The study was published in the journal Nature Physics.
Exploring the origins of Australia's iconic, if controversial, wild dog
The Australian Dingo has a fierce reputation as a predator, leading to European settlers attempting to exterminate it in the 19th century. But the dingo’s origin story has not been well understood. For years, it was assumed the dingo originated from India, given its similarities to the Indian pariah dog, or from New Guinea. Dr. Loukas Koungolos, a research associate at the University of Sydney, led the study looking at dingo fossils and found out where it likely came from, and how the domestic dogs of ancient people became a wild predator down under. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Can we treat autoimmune disease by manipulating the immune system?
Autoimmune diseases like Lupus can be a result of critical immune cells attacking our own bodies. New advances are pointing to ways we might be able to reverse this.
Researchers have repurposed a relatively new cancer treatment, called CAR-T therapy that can reprogram immune cells to attack cancer cells, to reset the immune system in patients with lupus to neutralize its autoimmune attack. Dr. Georg Schett and his colleagues, from the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen in Germany, were the first to use this immunotherapy to successfully treat lupus patients. That research appeared in the journal Nature Medicine with a follow-up in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Other researchers are focussing on understanding — and possibly reversing — what triggers the immune cells to go awry in the first place. Dr. Jaehyuk Choi, from Northwestern University, said they found a molecule that lupus patients are deficient in. In cell culture they demonstrated that correcting this deficiency can reprogram certain immune T-cells to stop directing the attack on the body which they hope could potentially reverse the effects of lupus. His research was published in Nature.
Prethodne epizode
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629 - A Nobel for microRNA and more Fri, 11 Oct 2024
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628 - The FBI's chief explosives scientist deconstructs bomb forensic investigations and more... Fri, 04 Oct 2024
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626 - An astronaut takes a birds-eye view of migration and more Fri, 20 Sep 2024
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625 - Science in the Field special. Catching up on the sights and sounds of what Canadian researchers did this summer Fri, 13 Sep 2024
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624 - Overheated Bonus Podcast -- a hostful behind-the-scenes chat Mon, 09 Sep 2024
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623 - Overheated - a Quirks & Quarks special about urban heat Fri, 06 Sep 2024
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622 - Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus for the summer. New podcasts will appear in September Fri, 28 Jun 2024
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621 - Listener Question show Fri, 21 Jun 2024
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620 - The age of monotremes, Third thumb, bird dream sounds, astronaut health database, aging and exercise, and sound perception Fri, 14 Jun 2024
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619 - The pursuit of gravity, and more… Fri, 07 Jun 2024
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618 - Killer whales are ramming boats for fun, and more... Fri, 31 May 2024
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617 - The risks and benefits of pandemic virus research and more… Fri, 24 May 2024
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616 - Sounds and smells of nature, and more... Fri, 17 May 2024
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615 - Why the famous Higgs particle plays the field and more… Fri, 10 May 2024
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614 - Quirks & Quarks goes to the dogs -- a dog science special Sat, 04 May 2024
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613 - Tiny black holes that could smash through our planet, and more… Fri, 26 Apr 2024
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612 - Bonus: What On Earth's Earth Day special Mon, 22 Apr 2024
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611 - Why this Indigenous researcher thinks we can do science differently, and more… Sat, 20 Apr 2024