Mendelspod Podcast

First it was all about biomarkers. Then panels of biomarkers. But biology is complicated. Why does one patient respond to an immuno therapy when another which shares the same biomarker does not?Welcome to the age of spatial biology.Garry Nolan joins us today. He's a professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford who's career has been a journey of seeing intracellular happenings more and more in context. Check out this cool analogy from a new paper his lab put out in Cell. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

After a long break, the world's first genomics pundits are back for the season. And they are calm and collected in the face of the strorm on Pennsylvania Ave. We're sixty days from an election. How serious should we be taking politicization of the COVID vaccine, this radical shift on LDTs at the FDA?We also discuss some regular approvals and on rejection that sent the industry reeling with disappointment. Then it's on to Laura's, Nathan's, and Theral's picks for science of the month.Welcome back! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

We see this new ingredient appearing advertised and in products everywhere. On the billboards, in the new shops next to our favorite restaurant, on the counters at the barbershop and when we pick up our prescriptions at the pharmacy.C-B-D.It has to do with the ongoing revolution that’s happening around the country—around the world—regarding the deregulation of marijuana. But there’s another revolution that will change our consumption of cannabinoids. That of synthetic biology. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Mary Norton is a perinatologist and clinical geneticist at UCSF who says that in the age when we are diagnosing ever more rare diseases, adding to the carrier screening panel can be a good thing, but it’s complicated.But it can be a good thing.But it’s complicated. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Has this pandemic presented a unique moment for science in our history? Or is it just a strange and temporary moment of science fiction? Or both?Sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson (The Mars Trilogy, The Ministry of the Future) recently penned an essay in the New Yorker about how the virus has “changed our imaginations” and created a new “structure of feeling.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Happy summertime! We had positive news this month about an mRNA vaccine from Moderna. We also saw how during a pandemic, the process of science is especially abnormal. Nathan says let's be happy about the good news. Laura's ringing with alarm bells, sensing conflicts of interest right and left. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Back before the world turned upside down, you know, all those years ago--early this February--a paper popped up on bioRxiv called, “Nanopore adaptive sequencing for mixed samples, whole exome capture and targeted panels." It’s an interesting paper.In the paper, the authors, led by Matt Loose from the DeepSeq lab at the University of Nottingham, describe a method unique to nanopore sequencing where one can do "selective sequencing of single molecules in real time by individually reversing the voltage across specific nanopores.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

What is the key to getting a coronavirus vaccine? “Manufacturing,” says today’s guest, Jeff Stein of Cidara Therapeutics.Jeff joined us just last fall to talk about his company’s exciting new technology, an immunotherapy, that is a universal flu preventative and therapy. Yes, you read that right. A universal flu preventative. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Join Nathan Pearson from Root, a sharp commentator on scientific trends, and Laura Hercher from Sarah Laurence College, an ethical voice in academia, as they dissect April 2020's pandemic landscape. They discuss the fallout from a controversial antibody testing study, highlighting the need for accountability in science. The duo delves into the ethical implications of 'immunity papers' for returning to work, and the societal pressures this creates. They also touch on how the pandemic is reshaping public health perceptions and scientific research.

Why have diagnostic tests for the Coronavirus been slow on the scene? What have been the challenges for lab directors? Were they scientific? Were they regulatory? Were they scaling challenges? Are they still scaling challenges? Supply chain problems?Elaine Lyon worked for many years at the molecular genetics lab at ARUP at the University of Utah and is now the Clinical Services Lab Director at Hudson Alpha. In both of these jobs she has designed and overseen the design of many diagnostic tests. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe