The connection between tobacco smoke, cancer and heart disease has been well established since the 1800's, with irrefutable medical evidence presented since the 1950s. There is no question that smoking has significant public health impacts. The effects of second hand smoke were examined in various studies and  also claimed negative effects. But these reports has some significant limitations, and larger studies later showed no significant risk.  One of the authors, cancer epidemiologist Dr. Geoffrey Kabat, recounts the publication, the fallout, the lack of defense from the scientific community, and later independent reports that would reinforce their findings of no association with lung cancer and heart disease. While predating social media, the findings that did not fit a public health narrative where harshly criticized, using arguments that failed to address the evidence. This example is a precursor to understanding the modern-day discussions about issues like vaccination, COVID19, glyphosate, and other topics where the evidence is strong, but public opinion often fails to accept it. Dr. Kabat's accompanying article on Quillette. 

Dr. Ashley Winslow, CEO/CSO of Odylia Therapeutics, discusses a novel non-profit model for addressing rare diseases and the approaches being designed for two rare genetic eye diseases. Topics include the challenges of developing therapies for rare diseases, the founding of a nonprofit biotech company for rare disease research, gene therapy solutions for eye disorders, and the potential of gene therapy for treating Usher syndrome.

The more information you know about your genetics the better, right?  This is the idea behind companies like 23andMe, which offer platforms to understand your potential genetic predisposition toward a specific disease. The concept thrives on massive collection of public genetic data, coupled to extensive questionnaires that en masse, generate statistical associations between different genetic variants and various disorders, diseases, behaviors or drug sensitivities. These powerful tools are shaping our understanding of genes and genetic variants that contribute to our physiology, metabolism and psychology, and even aiding in drug discovery. Dr. Joyce Tung, Vice President of Research at 23andMe describes the technology, the evolution of the business, racial disparities, and what the future looks like for public genetic services. 

DNA has been an invaluable tool to make certain matches between a suspect and a crime. Since its early use in the 1980s, we have seen an explosion in DNA sequence availability, allowing forensic scientists to identify hypervariable regions of the genome that can assist in confirming a person's identity. However, there are many ethical issues surrounding its implementation, such as use of public and private databases (like 23 and Me) to identify a suspect. The discussion covers a breadth of forensic applications with Brian Hoey, Director of the Missouri State Police Crime Lab. 

If you've ever publicly communicated enthusiasm for a new product or technology, you inevitably have been accused to being a shill for the company that produced it. It is a normal part of human psychology to assume there is an undisclosed motivation for someone's excitement, and it is based on legitimate concerns about how conflicts of interest can shape one's perceptions of associated science. We discuss the topic with Dr. Chris MacDonald from Toronto Metropolitan University.  

Many consumer products contain chemistries that originate from an unsustainable source. Dr. Chance Elliott VP of R&D at Amyris describes how his company is using synthetic biology to engineer yeast to produce these same compounds from sustainable substrates. We also discuss the current business climate, how companies change with new technology, as well as how to prepare for a future for jobs in this rapidly evolving space. 

The company Color has taken innovative approaches to varied aspects of public health.  From at-home kits that can assess cancer risk, to efforts to curb COVID19, to finding attractive ways to make health care more accessible, Color has launched an array of programs that seek to improve public health.  Dr. Alicia Zhou is the Chief Science Officer of Color.  We discuss Color's efforts in cancer and disease detection, it's inroads into personalized, precision medicine, and a look at how technology may enable improved access to quality health care. Color is also a leader in constructing modern biobanks, repositories of data that can help shape healthcare outcomes in diverse communities. We also discuss careers in this evolving space, and how the business is adapting to a changing health care  delivery landscape in positive ways that benefit the patient and the system as a whole. 

This is one hot tech discussion!  Protein therapeutics have great potential, but significant limitations to their utility. Dr. Dan Mandell of GRO Biosciences explains how they are using a non-standard library of amino acids to increase protein presentation. Along with glycosylation and other modifications, the proteins are more therapeutically active, as such changes can improve issues like stability and visibility to the immune system. The technologies are being used to design therapeutic solutions for autoimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis. This is a technology dense episode that stretches the bounds of molecular biology. 

While many global genomics analyzes gene variants or RNA expression products, the levels of proteins are usually the most informative.  At the same time, quantifying proteins is relatively difficult, especially when trying to obtain a snapshot of the proteome from a single cell or tissue. Dr. Parag Mallick of Stanford University and Nautilus Biotechnology describes the utility of high-throughput proteomics, and how the technology incorporates a novel detection method and machine learning to quantify large suites of proteins. The applications are almost endless and present great opportunities to understand how accumulation of specific proteins relates to biological function or disease states. 

Many diseases or disorders originate with a loss of cellular function.  Cell death or damage is at the root of many problems associated with aging or injury. But what if the cells lost could simply be replaced to restore function?  Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, discusses how his company has identified ways to generate specific cell types that can functionally replace lost cells in various contexts, restoring function. We discus applications in macular degeneration, hearing loss, and spinal cord injury, with potential applications in Type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and many future applications.