Opinionated Science is Technology Networks’ homemade podcast, where our team of scientists-turned-journalists cut out the chewy jargon and serve up slices of the most fascinating stories from the world of science. Expect a new Opinionated Science every other Friday.
This episode is a COVID-19 podcast with a first-hand focus. Podcast host Ruairi Mackenzie discusses his experience with symptomatic COVID-19. And we also look at the data around COVID-19 risk and age and discuss the emerging problems posed by long COVID.
Read more from this podcast:
CDC Data on COVID-19 Risk by Age
The Lasting Misery of Coronavirus Long-Haulers
Long Covid: Reviewing the Science and Assessing the Risk
In this episode, the team discuss the metabolome; the billions of tiny molecules that our cells produce every second. Scientific understanding of the metabolome has leapt forward, opening the door to a better understanding of how to treat disease, how to live a healthier lifestyle and even how trauma can be passed down via our metabolites.
Today's episode is brought to you by SCIEX.
Read more from this podcast:
Wellness and Illness From a Precision Quantification Perspective
Disease Biomarker Discovery Infographic
Trauma Impacts the Metabolism in Ways That Can Be Inherited
On this episode, the team will discuss how the SARS-CoV-2 virus affects our brain.
Over time, it‘s become clear that in addition to affecting our respiratory system, SARS-CoV-2 infection can also have implications for our brain and nerves. This podcast will untangle the disparate effects involved, covering everything from a subdued sense of smell to serious brain inflammation and damage. Finally, we’ll discuss evidence that a “third wave“ of COVID-19 could target the brain in years to come.
Read more from this podcast:
What Does COVID-19 Do to the Nervous System?
What Are the Psychiatric Side Effects of Coronavirus Infection?
Neurological Consequences of COVID-19: The “Silent Wave”
Sniffin' Sticks for Testing Loss of Smell in COVID-19
|
In this episode, the team explore cancer immunotherapy, a revolutionary set of treatments that has fundamentally changed cancer care. In exploring how our immune system can be turned against cancer, we follow a trail from ancient China to the cutting edge of medical research and look to a personalized future for immunotherapy. Opinionated Science is Technology Networks’ homemade podcast, where our team of scientists-turned-journalists cut out the chewy jargon and serve up slices of the most fascinating stories from the world of science. Read more from this podcast: Treating Cancer – 5 Types of Immunotherapy Key Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy Over the Last Decade Future Cancer Immunotherapy Treatments Could Be Administered by a Pill New Vaccine Has the Potential To Treat Several Different Cancers |
In this episode, the team discuss efforts to let your brain communicate beyond the limits of your head. Whilst much of this research is still in early stages, scientists have shown how individuals can share thoughts through brain wave-based games of Tetris, and tech entrepreneurs have looked to a future where brains can be directly joined with computers. We look into these technologies’ potential to help paralysis patients and the ethical implications of a network of interconnected brains.
Read more from this podcast:
Brain-Computer Interface Lets Three People Play Video Games Using Their Minds
Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020
Rajesh Rao at TED: Brain Co-Processors-When AI Meets the Brain
|
In this episode, the team discuss the growing movement for sustainable science. Research has a yeti-sized ecological footprint, and here we follow the tracks from ozone-destroying CFCs and energy-guzzling freezers through to a new future for science that promises to make labs eco-friendly at last. Read more from this podcast: Allison Paradise Interviewed at SfN 2018 Eco-nutrition Label for Labware Could Make Science a Greener Place To Be |
In this episode, the team take a deep dive into the world of biohacking. Practitioners of this DIY biology have big goals: making genetic technologies available to all, bypassing government regulation of drugs and (on the fringes of the movement) achieving immortality. Are biohackers visionaries or outsider scientists lost in a fantasy?
Read more from this podcast:
Meet Josiah Zayner, the Biohacker Next Door
One Biohacker’s Improbable Bid to Make a DIY Covid-19 Vaccine
Biohack the Planet Livestream & Chat
Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine “Approved" Despite No Phase III Data
In this episode, the TN team discuss three promising vaccine candidates being developed for COVID-19. We take a deep dive into the data from these vaccine trials to try and work out what successes can be celebrated and what unanswered questions still remain.
Read more from this podcast:
Vaccine 1: Moderna's mRNA-1273
Vaccine 2: Oxford University's ChAdOx1
Vaccine 3: CanSino Biologics' Adenovirus Type-5
Antigen vs Antibody – What Are the Differences?
Exploring the Drug Development Process
Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Positive Interim Results in Phase I Trial
Genetic data is moving to the mainstream. Testing, both in the clinic and through direct-to-consumer delivery, is much quicker and cheaper then ever before. But these advances have come with a lot of ethical baggage. In this podcast we discuss how clinical testing can throw up surprise results for doctor and patient, the test data that is helping fight COVID-19 and how one of our own editors responded to receiving her genetic risk scores.
Read more from this podcast:
Exploring the Ethics of Genetic Testing
Exploring the Ethics of Genetic Testing: What Does Consent Mean?
Exploring the Ethics of Genetic Testing: Where Does Duty Begin and End?
Data from Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests Used To Create a Drug for Inflammatory Diseases
Chronologically, I'm 23, but Biologically – I'm 26
Large Study Suggests Blood Type O May Be a Protective Factor Against COVID-19
One Year on, Scientists Defend Canada’s Anti-Genetic Discrimination Law
In this episode, the TN team discuss the potential of personalized, precision approaches to change healthcare. We hear how cancer care has been one of the first areas to take advantage of patient-specific data, the risks and rewards of increased access to genomic data and how neuroscience is beginning to explore diseases of the brain at a personal level.
Read more from this podcast:
Chronologically, I'm 23, but Biologically – I'm 26
Personalized Medicine and Cancer
Concepts and Promises of Personalized Medicine
More Severe Alzheimer's Subtype May Be Caused by Tau Modification
Cancer Biomarkers: Powering Precision Medicine
The Power of Proteogenomics in Precision Medicine
One Year on, Scientists Defend Canada’s Anti-Genetic Discrimination Law
Exploring Differences in Drug Response With Dr Namandje N. Bumpus
CRISPR, Cell Therapies and Drug Discovery
Exploring the Latest in CRISPR and Stem Cell Research
