Finding Genius Podcast

"The wider view of nature is the more powerful one," says Andreas Mershin, a researcher who stays out of bounds. "Nature is not divided by a textbook," he continues, and this foundation sets the tone for his work. He's a physicist who's exploring the innovative discovery of diseases at their earliest stages, from a prostate cancer diagnosis to breast cancer, by harnessing the smelling acuity of dogs. Listen and learn How studies have shown surprising and encouraging results with dog sniffing and cancer identification, What mechanics of smell and scent enable the dogs to detect cancer when it can't be identified by biomarkers, and How scientists are looking at mechanical devices to do the same thing and more, including sensing our emotional states. Andreas Mershin is a research scientist at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms. While that department may not seem congruous with researching the latest treatment for prostate cancer, he explains that the physical world doesn’t limit itself to department titles, so why should research? That’s why when he stumbled across two seminal papers on dogs’ abilities to find out more than one different cancer diagnosis by scent, he knew he had a subject worth investigating. But it’s not as straight forward as just smelling cancer, he explains. Rather, “think of the molecules of sense that are being produced by your metabolic pathways as being the sand, and cancer signatures like footsteps on the sand.” Further, the dogs are able to generalize to other types of cancer after learning one type. He says that they are sensing cancer imprints over other molecules almost as emotion moves through various molecules. They’re also teaching machines to do this as well, to recognize an “emergent scent character” of different conditions. Because addressing certain cancers early can be a matter of life and death, this research hopes to save lives by identifying someone with, for example, prostate cancer, and initiating prostate cancer treatment in the earliest stages. Listen in for more about this fascinating research. Visit the Links to know more about his Research: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245530 https://www.wired.com/story/quest-to-make-robot-smell-cancer-dog/ https://news.mit.edu/2021/disease-detection-device-dogs-0217 Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

What causes a primary tumor to form in the body? Metastatic dissemination explains how genetic damage in the cell can develop cancer and begin the spread. Press play to learn: The triggers for the spread of cancer cells How a stroma supports the primary tumor If excess mutations can revert tumors to stem cell-like tissue Robert Weinberg, a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and professor of biology at MIT, discusses his research into the formation and spread of cancer. The tissue in tumors resembles very closely the tissue found in wounds. The inflammatory state which assists in healing all wounds may be responsible for the aggression and proliferation of cancer cells and tumor growth. As the tumor grows and continues to mutate, it begins to recruit several different types of cells to assist in growth and survival. Multiple mutations in a tumor may continue to increase the aggression and inflammatory nature of the tumor as it grows. For more information, search for Robert Weinberg's laboratory in association with the Whitehead Institute on your preferred engine. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

Could better emotional and physical health be as simple as subtle movement? Anna Jacobsen says it is, but the art of her practice is not quite so simple. Tune in to discover: What it means to say that every organ has an energetic quality How emotions like anger and aggression can manifest physically and be “felt” in certain organs Why depression presents special challenges and a greater level of complexity when it comes to healing through Jacobsen’s approach Jacobsen is an alternative practitioner who focuses on helping people reduce stress and fear in their life, improve their cognition and creativity, and foster physical health through movement—specifically by applying a deep understanding of the correlation between body systems and movement. She’s a somatic movement educator and therapist, but her work with clients is really a hybrid of various techniques and approaches, each of which she tailors to the individual.   She dives into the details of her work, both on a personal and professional basis, touching on her experiences with people who have suffered traumas and sought healing through her practice. An understanding of and communication with cellular consciousness, she says, is an area ripe for exploration and potential, and one that she aims to learn more about in order to improve her life and the lives of others. Press play to hear the full conversation, and learn more at https://www.annajacobsen.de/home-3. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

Could a vaccine for specific forms of cancer be a realistic prospect in the future? Based upon research into rhythms in the body, research shows that it may be a viable possibility. Press play to learn: If the time cancer treatment is administered can make a difference Can the sequence or timing of vaccines cause variation in efficacy? How the body regulates levels of inflammation Brendon Coventry, Associate Professor of Surgery in Adelaide at the University of South Australia, discusses his work with rhythms in the body and how this can affect optimal treatment. By treating patients at abnormal times throughout the day, new treatments may become more or less effective even if inconvenient for practitioners. This will afford researchers a unique perspective when it comes to treating cancer and may even unlock new therapeutic methods and treatments. Cycles that involve CRP in the body can lead to certain forms of cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Based on a seven-day process, many points of data point towards the body's reliance on cycles and how this reliance will interact with vaccines and treatments for cancer. Search for Brendon Coventry on Google Scholar or https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov for more information. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

“The anthropomorphic language has been frowned upon in biology for a hundred years…and I think it’s because it’s the only way to understand it,” says Perry Marshall. Press play to learn more about his compelling view of cancer and discover: How Perry’s understanding of cancer might explain why stage four cancers are almost always impossible to treat Why the neo-Darwinian view of evolution and the inability to accept the idea of cellular cognition are major roadblocks to finding a cure for cancer What consequences result from the resistance to change in the medical industry While the idea that cancer is a genetic disease resulting from random DNA damage which triggers endless cell proliferation may be true, Perry Marshall doesn’t think it gets to the essence of what cancer really is. According to him, cancer is when the cells of the body lose their identity and begin evolving or speciating out of control. Marshall says that when the simple laws of physics and chemistry are insufficient to explain everything that happens in the biological world, it leaves a giant elephant in the room that no one knows how to deal with. And in part, this could be why so many scientists, researchers, and doctors still fail to consider anything other than a narrow and restricted definition of cancer, cellular life, and evolution. “I think there are a lot of people who just don’t want to understand it, or if it raises questions that blow [their] mind, then [they] just don’t want to think about it,” says Marshall. He discusses James Shapiro’s paper titled, “All Living Cells Are Cognitive”, in which Shapiro argues that, quite literally, ALL cells have cognition; they can also get stressed out, and then they do, they begin manifesting different behaviors until reaching a tipping point when they forget who they are.  And the result? Cancer. “Whether you’re watching football players chase each other around the football field, or your dog chase a rabbit , or a YouTube video of white blood cells chasing germs, it all kind of looks the same…it is the same intentional behavior happening on radically different scales...” he says. Press play for the details of all this and much more. To contribute to the search for a cancer cure, visit https://evo2.org/cancer/, and if you’re interested in earning $10 million, visit https://www.herox.com/evolution2.0. Also, be sure to check out Marshall’s book, Evolution 2.0: Breaking the Deadlock Between Darwin and Design. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

What happens when a classically trained medical doctor develops chronic fatigue? When Jeanne Drisko struggled with her health, she discovered integrative medicine and nutrition. Now she’s running a clinic at the University of Kansas with Dr. Kay Chin utilizing translational medicine to unlock better care for cancer patients. Listen and learn What’s the difference between the effects of oral and intravenous vitamin C, How intravenous vitamin C works as a treatment of pancreatic cancer and blood cancer among others, Why it also shows promise in studies with the Covid-19 virus, and How intravenous vitamin C has worked in tandem with chemotherapy. Jeanne Drisko is professor emeritus at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She tells her story of discovering intravenous vitamin C therapy to meet her own health struggles. She was impressed by its effect and, after working with internationally-renowned experts in nutritional medicine like Dr. Hugh Riordan, she started her own program in integrative medicine at the university. She knew she wanted intravenous vitamin C to part of that, and she’s spent years researching its effects on fighting viruses and cancers. Unlike oral vitamin C, the intravenous introduction becomes a drug in the vein at very high levels. It'll go from the vein into what scientists call the extracellular space. At this point, she says, it becomes something called a pro-oxidant, or the opposite of an antioxidant, and forms hydrogen peroxide, a “promiscuous molecule.” When it’s in the extracellular space, hydrogen peroxide can kill viruses, bacteria, and other abnormal cells like cancer. She explains how this works alongside other treatments like chemotherapy and chelation therapy, and why it shows such promise. Listen in for more about this exciting research. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

How do doctors measure your liver function, kidney function, cholesterol levels, and heart disease? They use biomarkers, and David Wishart helps identify biomarkers with analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, and other bioinformatics tools. He and his colleagues look at blood or urine and other biological fluids to help in the diagnosis and characterization of human diseases. He explains What characterizes a useful and reliable biomarker and how low false positive rates distinguish them, How the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve works and where common tests fall in the curve, What’s the history of biomarker testing and how it’s been improved, and How he’s meeting the challenging task of identifying Alzheimer’s biomarkers in his research. David Wishart is a professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He works with bioinformatics software, nanobiology, and machine learning in healthcare to fine tune the use of biomarkers in diagnostics. He explains that historically, most biomarkers have been proteins. But developments in identifying cancer biomarkers, for example, have focused on metabolomics. “Cancer is very much a metabolic disorder,” he explains, “and some of the very first changes that happen in cancer are fundamental changes in metabolism.” Furthermore, tests can be combined, like a “gene test with a protein test with a chemical test,” and that improves sensitivity and the chances of catching a cancer earlier. Neurodegenerative diseases pose a particular challenge, he explains. An Alzheimer’s biomarker is hard to identify because the consequences of the disease and causes are not always clear. Researchers are even pointing to microbiome connections and brain metabolism. Therefore, it may actually be a gut microbiome test that indicates Alzheimer’s. He adds, “we're finding, for instance, bile acids in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.” He describes what other chemicals they’re finding and how this research might lead to better understandings of its pathogenesis and how earlier testing and prevention might be possible. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

How should cancer be viewed while in the body. Research shows that it may be classified as a separate entity rather than a component of tissue. Listen in to learn: The percentage of cells that do not metastasize How tumors coerce the surrounding healthy tissue to serve its needs How "clusters of death" interact with populations around the world Christos Chinopoulos, associate professor and project manager of the RPPA facility, joins us to discuss his work with finding metabolic pathways that differ in cancerous tissue when compared to healthy tissue. Depending on the stage of development that cancer has reached, it is motivated by different factors within the body. Since the subject ultimately dies in the end, there must be other contributing factors along the path of growth and spreading. Using promising new technologies like liquid biopsies, there may be a way to detect signs of cancer even earlier. From biomarkers like DNA, RNA, and lipids, early detection of afflicted tissue can be much simpler than previously thought possible. For more information, visit rppa.hu. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

Can the aging process actually be reversed or prevented? The answer to this age-old question is explored in today’s show.   Tune in to learn: What changes about the way DNA is read as we get older, and how this could hold the key to reversing cellular aging What differs between old and young tissues, and why they heal differently Whether it’s the loss of stem cells or the loss of function of stem cells that might explain the aging process New research on the biological basis of tissue rejuvenation potential suggests that developing therapeutics for the restoration of old and damaged tissues is possible. With the use of machine learning, hundreds of thousands of small molecules are being screened for activities which promote rejuvenation and youthfulness in cells and tissues. Once identified, those small molecules are converted into pill form and given to mice that are aging rapidly, or that are likely to develop an age-related disease. Researchers then look at whether these drugs really do create the desired effect: the delay, reversal, or prevention of tissue aging and disease. Press play for an in-depth discussion of all this and more. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

One of the biggest challenges is identifying kidney disease in the early and middle stages, says Prabir Roy-Chaudhury. He works to emphasize the importance of simple blood and urine tests for high-risk populations for earlier diagnosis, but also strives for better treatment once kidney failure sets in. He discusses Why his main interest is dialysis vascular access dysfunction, What are common issues, such as cardiovascular complications in kidney disease patients, How current tests like the GFR and albumin amounts are calculated and why they determine the kidney failure risk equation, and What should patients prioritize in treatment, from Vitamin D importance to new drugs and technologies. Prabir Roy-Chaudhury is a professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and co-director of UNC Kidney Center and specializes in uremic vascular biology. He brings listeners online with the basics of kidney disease, who’s at risk, and what’s being done to make treatment better. We need our kidneys to rid our bodies of toxic byproducts and fluid, he says. If the kidneys can’t rid us of our byproducts, these uremic solutes accumulate in the blood and our systems suffer. That’s why doctors turn to other ways of filtrating these out of our bodies through dialysis. That’s also where Dr. Roy-Chaudhury would like to see improvement. He explains both types of dialysis—hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis—describing their strengths and weaknesses. He adds that “my dream definitely would be for us to be in a slightly different place” with dialysis. He shares some good news towards that end: that the American Society of Nephrology has partnered with the FDA and Health and Human Services to produce public and private partnerships, such as the Kidney Health Initiative and the Kidney Innovation Accelerator, to improve these treatments. Listen in to learn about these exciting projects that hope to dramatically change the quality of life for patients with kidney disease. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C