SPECIAL EPISODE! [We strongly recommend listening to Base Pairs episode 17 to contextualize this extended discussion.]Some of the most sought after gifts this holiday season are at-home DNA tests. These tests let anyone send a sample of his or her DNA to get analyzed for various results: the geographic location of ancestors; predisposition to illne…

Mail-order genetic testing —more accurately known as genotyping— is a growing trend. But what exactly is this data that's send back? And what can people (even law enforcement) DO with that data?We explore the tricky situation posed by private genetic information in an "open data" world.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Biofuels are the wave of the future, and a small plant called duckweed could be a significant part of that. Hear more from Professor Rob Martienssen about how genetic modification and advances in genome mapping technology factor in to the future of fuel. On our pop culture segment, we dive into some cinematic biofuels of the future, both hopeful an…

As concentrations of greenhouse gasses continue to rise, scientists are working hard to develop ways to ween the world off our need for fossil fuels. Biofuels are one promising solution, and they're commonly made from food crops like corn, or even byproducts like husks. Now CSHL Professor Rob Martienssen is trying to pull fuel from something surpri…

Immunotherapy has been receiving much more attention over the past few years, but the history of this promising type of cancer therapy is a long one. Adding to the story of William Coley’s early immunotherapy from Base Pairs 15, “The Immune System, Unleashed!” we hear about how his daughter used a barn full of case notes to start the Cancer Researc…

You may have heard of it; "immunotherapy" has started to appear in headlines over the last few years. In this episode, however, we reveal that the practice of cancer immunotherapy is actually far older than even our understanding of the immune system! We also talk to a CSHL researcher who is showing that the immune system doesn’t even need to be en…

It’s important to know that a drug works, but knowing how it works can be just as crucial. CSHL Fellow Jason Sheltzer discovered that the hypothesis explaining the action of a new cancer drug was incorrect, indicating that its beneficial effects had to be due to other factors. Hear more from him following up on his discussion in episode 14, “The ca…

Base Pairs was just named among the 2018 Webby Award’s “five best podcasts in the world” for the subjects of science and education. Now, WE NEED YOUR HELP to take home the People's Voice award🏆Place your vote at: http://bit.ly/cshlwebbyBy Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

We look at the "reproducibility crisis" in science, and dive into a case in which cancer researchers discovered something completely unexpected while experimenting with a supposed drug target.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

No, we're not talking about high society or your biology class! In this episode, we share three distinct stories about classification in the life sciences and how genetic information is changing how we define important categories.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Who will use CRISPR to alter their child's DNA? Who gets to decide which traits are desirable? Following up on our last episode, "Good Genes, Bad Science," we hear from David Micklos, executive director at CSHL’s DNA Learning Center, and Miriam Rich, CSHL Archives Sydney Brenner Research Scholar and doctoral student at Harvard, on these big questio…

In the early 1900s, American science took a wrong turn toward eugenics. In this episode, we talk with experts in both science and history about what we can learn from this dark period in today’s age of unprecedented control over the genome.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A few favorite moments from our talk with theoretical physicist and quantitative biologist, Associate Professor Gurinder "Mickey" Atwal, that touch on topics ranging from his stint in medical school to the job market in the age of big data to Schrödinger's cat.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A "behind the screens" look at how biology is addressing its "most wonderful problem" – too much data. Associate Professor Gurinder S. "Mickey" Atwal joins us to explain the essential enigma that is quantitative biology.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Plant scientist Zachary Lippman tells stories from the field of bizarre tomatoes, intensely hot peppers, and giant pumpkins in this latest "chat" episode of Base Pairs.Hear more from Zack in episode 10 – CRISPR vs Climate Change.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Much of the hype around the genome editing tool known as CRISPR focuses on its potential to cure genetic diseases. But our bodies need more than a healthy genome to survive and thrive—they also need food, and that’s where we may see CRISPR’s earliest effects on our lives. In this episode, we talk with plant scientist and Associate Professor Zach Li…

Set aside your notions of how biologists are born, or what the word “gene” means as you listen to our first chat episode. We talk with Assistant Professor Molly Hammell, a genome biologist who started out as an astrophysicist. She tells us what it’s like to peer deep into space using a high-tech telescope. We also speak with Professor Tom Gingeras …

One scientist’s junk is apparently everyone’s treasure! They just haven’t realized it yet. . . In this episode of Base Pairs, we question the mythos that is “junk DNA” and explore how and why scientists are becoming enthralled by the mysterious non-coding portions of the genome.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Could “genome” be a misnomer? The name implies that our genetic information is mainly genes, yet when the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, it revealed that genes comprise a tiny minority. About 98 percent of the genome is something else — a kind of genomic dark matter.We chat with an astrophysicist-turned-genome-biologist, Assistant Prof…

We are Base Pairs, the podcast about "the power of genetic information." But why did we choose this name? In this bonus episode, we explain the molecules and the metaphor.Pictured: Tin model of Adenine as first constructed by James Watson and Francis Crick whilst working at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1953. (Science Museum London / Scien…

One in six people suffers from a mental disorder, and yet, compared to cancer and infectious disease, neuropsychiatric treatment options have barely improved since the 1950s. But why is that? In this episode of Base Pairs, we explore some of the problems neuropsychiatric drug discovery faces… and how a single, simple method may help.*Cover image by…

Fighting cancer is so difficult in part because the healthy cells we want to support often end up casualties in the crossfire of toxic treatments. This episode is about how we might overcome this obstacle even in some of the most difficult cases: patients with pancreatic cancer. Of all major cancers, pancreatic has the lowest survival rate, because…

Professor Adrian Krainer was offered the opportunity to run his own lab when he was just 27 years old as part of a brand new “Fellows” program—which allowed him, in his words, to “sink or swim.” These kinds of programs are rare, as investing in young, relatively inexperienced people is risky. Krainer’s story makes us question what we’re risking by …

Nearly ten billion people will walk the Earth by 2050, and for some of the poorest and fastest growing countries, that could mean a bleak and hungry future.Dr Josef Schmidhuber of the FAO and CSHL Professor David Jackson explain what has gone wrong, and how genetics can help.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

From the scale of a single ancient murder victim to interactions between large groups of humans and Neanderthals who lived 100,000 years ago, genetic information holds many secrets about human history.In this episode, "Ötzi the Iceman" and Dr Adam Siepel help us expose new secrets of the human genome.…

The ongoing GMO labeling debate wasn't the first agricultural controversy. In the early 1900s, it was a new and so-called "wicked" breeding technique that had everyone on edge.In this episode of Base Pairs, we dive into the surprisingly contentious history and genetics of America's corn.By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's first fully-produced podcast series! Base Pairs ​tells​ stories that ​convey​ the power of genetic information — past and present.This pilot episode exemplifies the series, offering one story about the quirky history ​behind the field of genetics​, and another about how a ​scientist recently discovered a new​ disorde…