In this episode of Discovery Matters, hosts Dodi and Conor explore how synthetic biology can lead to transformative breakthroughs when it comes to dealing with global health problems. Through their conversation with Justin Vigar, a PhD student in Dr. Keith Pardee's lab at the University of Toronto in Canada, we learn how his team's paper-based diag…

Tune in to Discovery Matters to see how we can drug the undruggable. Dodi and Conor talk to Mark Bray, a second year PhD student in the Bowman Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, about the concept of “drugging the undruggable” for drug discovery and development. They discuss advances in medical research which has enabled us to drug molecular tar…

Explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to revolutionize biomedical research and make personalized healthcare a reality. Tune in to Discovery Matters to see how AI and machine learning will be the future of biomedical research. Featuring interviews with Professor Kourosh Saeb-Parsy and Dr Namshik Han — leaders in …

Let’s explore the world of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and their potential for improving human health. Our two guests—Principal Investigator Sasha Ebrahimi from GSK and oncologist Dr. Paolo Tarantino—discuss the development and advantages of ADCs, and how they can be used to personalize treatments for cancer and other illnesses. Sasha explains …

Discovery Matters is back with our best episodes and insights from the past year. Dodi and Conor re-explore some cutting-edge ideas and technologies pushing the frontiers of science and medicine forward. We look back on some of our favorite episodes including therapies such as psychedelic drugs, the sentience of brain cells, and the potential of ma…

Join Conor and Dodi in the latest episode of Discovery Matters, as they explore the wonders of ground-breaking scientific discoveries from multidisciplinary collaboration. MIT's Professor Pete Dedon expresses how multidisciplinary approaches and unique combinations of experiences can help to produce unexpected results. Professor James Evans of the …

Let’s explore the world of organoids and their potential to revolutionize disease treatment. Joined by Matthias Zilbauer and Roisin Owens, we look at the interplay of the gut-brain axis with organic electronic materials. Dive into the advances in organoid and microbial models used to develop treatments for illnesses such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome…

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we discuss the exciting potential of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver genetic material and therapeutics to target cells and tissues. We are joined by Lloyd Jeffs, Senior Director of Biopharma Services at Precision NanoSystems, and Prof Dan Peer, Director of the Laboratory of Precision Nanomedicine at Tel A…

Challenges of improving access to healthcare in developing countries - it's a conversation we need to have. With the help of Dr Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccine Institute, we discuss vaccination and immunization programs as a key aspect of public health and global development – especially in developing nations, where access…

Through a discussion of combination therapies, Dodi and Conor delve into the mysterious power of the human microbiome, and antimicrobial resistance. With evidence of the microbiome being a key factor in fighting diseases, this episode highlights the importance of understanding and treating the microbiome and its potential to improve lives. Tune in …

In this episode, we dive into the potential of liquid biopsies as a method to detect deadly diseases. We speak with three experts – Marta Herreros, Rik Bryan, and Doug Ward – to learn more about the non-invasive nature of liquid biopsies and the process of detecting biomarkers within a patient sample. Rik and Doug discuss their GALEAS Bladder test,…

Why do China and US have different government regulations? Why can’t we do business above the fray? These are just some of the struggles biopharma executives report impacting their business. Our guests are of the same view – the industry needs fixing. Yingke He, CEO and Co-Founder of Forecyte Bio, explains how China's industrialized experience is l…

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we explore the incredible advances in precision medicine enabled by organoid technology. Vicky Marsh Durban and Oksana Sirenko contribute to the conversation, talking about how machine learning and robotics are used to scale up organoid culture and analyse data, as well as the potential of organoids to revoluti…

War! What is it good for? In this episode of Discovery Matters, Dr Smith explains how military medicine first shaped state medicine and how wartime creates an opportunity to innovate. From advances in prosthetics, psychology, and cosmetic surgery to the mass production of penicillin during World War II, this episode dives deep into the life-saving …

John Morris, a scientist at the forefront of cryopreservation technology, joins Dodi and Conor. They discuss the impact of cryopreservation on the development of CAR T therapies, why freezing cells is essential to these treatments, how tracking the samples ensures quality, and the potential for frozen cells to treat solid tumors in the future. Tune…

Conor and Dodi explore the new and exciting world of bacteriophage therapy. Join them as they speak to Anton Peleg, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology and the Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University, about this emerging field. Together they discuss how phages, viruses that specif…

In the latest episode of Discovery Matters, Dodi and Conor are joined by Dr. Bradley Moore from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to discuss his research into the medical and synthetic implications of using marine microbes to fight aggressive cancers such as glioblastoma. By leveraging salinosporamide A, Dr. Moore proposes that these deep-sea…

We should not underestimate cells. Conor and Dodi talk with Dr Brett Kagan, who conducted research to understand the brain and test ‘sentient’ brain cells, using the 1970s game, known as ‘Pong’. In another conversation, Professor Petra Levin and Kunaal Joshi explain how they have demonstrated that there is no mythical ‘average’ cell which mimics th…

What do CRISPR and longevity have in common? Not much, except it's all molecular. We spoke to two different CEOs focused on improving human health. We begin with Dr Benjamin Oakes, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics, who takes us through the discovery, potential, and possible limitations of CRISPR. Then we are joined by fellow vi…

Psychedelic treatment is a therapy which is on the rise according to the increasing number of studies on the use of psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA to treat mental health disorders such as PTSD. In this episode, Conor talks to Prof. Eric Vermetten, a psychiatrist who has been working with the military in the Netherlands for the last 25 years, helping…

Conor and Dodi try their hand at learning to operate an ÄKTA ready in virtual reality. Their virtual journey takes them to Singapore and Miami, without leaving Sweden, Amersham, and Edinburgh. Join us on a journey into the metaverse. Show notes For more info on using virtual reality for customers: cytiva.com/vr You can view the video version of the…

Mushrooms on Mars, life-saving blood from worms, cell-cultured seafood. It's been a year filled with surprise, serendipity, and everything in between. Conor, Dodi and the podcast team look back on a fascinating year and highlight their favourite interviews and topics of the year. See you in the new year! Show notes More info on Conor’s favorite: Wh…

This episode focuses on the microbiome and how it is increasingly linked to disease and illness. It seems this is true for understanding the illness of the body and the brain. Dr Amir Minerbi, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam Medical Center, talks to us about how the microbiome may hold the secrets of fibromyalgia. T…

Today, we sat down with Christos Michas, R&D scientist and engineer at Curi Bio, and Alice White, professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University. Christos and Alice have taken the organ on a chip to another level with the miniPUMP, a heart on a chip which is the first step in understanding the interaction of therapeutic drugs with the hea…

In this first in a two-part series on organ on a chip technology, we discuss with Jan Turner, formerly part of Safer Medicines Trust, how these organoids can help us move away from the inefficient animal model. Show notes Emulate study on LiverTox - Liver-Chip Publication | Qualifying a human Liver-Chip for predictive toxicology (emulatebio.com) Tr…

We have lots of information at our fingertips, so how do we make sense of it all, especially in human health? Conor and Dodi speak to two experts making sense of this information overload by creating genetic and genomic databases. Dr Artem Babaian, a computational biologist and now Assistant Professor leading The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms …

Within the life sciences industry, there has been a longstanding conversation around one of the industry’s most difficult challenges. That challenge is talent. In more detail, it is that the access to a global talent pool remains difficult. In this longer than usual conversation, Conor and Dodi speak with Darrin Morrissey, CEO of NIBRT, Anne-Cecile…

Plastic and pollution are two issues that impact our planet. It would be easy to despair but once again biology has come to save us. The Alper Lab at University of Texas at Austin has engineered a plastic-eating enzyme which can shorten plastic degradation from hundreds of years to 48 hours. We speak to Dr Hal Alper, Professor in Chemical Engineeri…

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a relatively new approach to determine the viral make up in any given area. Using chemical analysis of pollutants and biomarkers in raw wastewater, the level of exposure to certain pathogens can be assessed. This technique was used during the pandemic, which has helped realize its potential in public healthcare poli…

This episode is all about special blood and transplants. We speak to Jon Adkins, co-founder of XenoTherapeutics, who walks us through their use of xenotransplantation for skin grafts and organ transplantation. We are also joined by Dr. Franck Zal, a marine biologist, CSO and CEO of Hemarina, to discuss the lugworm. His discovery, that the lugworms’…

In this episode, we contemplate the combatting the devastating disease that Alzheimer’s is. According to a recent report by the Alzheimer’s Disease International, an estimated 50 million people are living with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. We talk to two experts leading two respective early-stage studies into possible treatments for Alzhemie…

The pandemic has been a global issue, which has benefitted from the coming together of industry, pharma, academia, non-governmental and governmental support. What the pandemic has also brought into sharp focus is the global imbalance access to healthcare and health inequity between the Global North and Global South. For this important conversation,…

We know meat is problematic for the environment, and seafood has its own issues with overfishing, so do we have to wave goodbye to the foods we love? Well, what if we told you that there are substitutes which you can enjoy without sacrificing taste and texture? We start with mycoprotein, in the form of the well-known meat substitute products of Quo…

According to Jacob Moe-Lange from California Cultured, and Natasha Haveman from the UF Space Plant Lab, genetically modified food is the future. Both discuss the way that food is grown and how that is changing. Jacob takes us through cell-cultured chocolate and the environmental and humanitarian benefits. Natasha forces our gaze upwards to the plan…

Fungi are amazing in so many ways, and after learning that they could be used to build habitat on Mars, we have this bonus episode to go into home these mushrooms can be used on Earth. Chris Maurer, principal architect at redhouse studios, explains that he has been using mushrooms to make building materials in low-resource environments in Namibia. …

March is the month of the Woman, and to celebrate International Women’s Day we speak with two agents of change who are passionate about opportunity and diversity within the sciences. Ruchi Sharma, CEO and Founder of Stemnovate Limited, and Sabrina Fleurimé, drug product development scientist and Corporate Partnership Director at BBSTEM, talk to us …

Sustained life and colonization in space are closer than ever, and biology holds the key. Biomimetic processes have applications for water filtration and for building homes on Mars. Jörg Vogel, VP of Open Innovation at Aquaporin, discusses how their Aquaporin Inside® Membrane Technology will help filter condensate and urine to make drinking water f…

Meet Discovery Maker Mustapha Bittaye, now a senior scientist working on diagnostic assay development at Medicines Discovery Catapult, who previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Jenner Institute helping create the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Born in The Gambia, a scholarship took Mustapha to the UK to study Microbial Proteomics, and …

What better way to start off 2022 than with a return to our Discovery Makers series. We celebrate discovery by talking to the scientists changing the world one day at a time. This time we are joined by Sebastian Falk. What drives a scientist? Well, according to Sebastian Falk, it is curiosity that drives him. Sebastian is a structural biologist who…

As 2022 rolls around the corner, we look back on the amazing topics we covered in 2021. Conor and Dodi were set an assignment to choose their favorite episode of the year, but as this was such a jam-packed year it made it very hard for them to complete their assignment. But as in all things, they delivered. From fungi forays to an eye-opening conve…

For this episode of Discovery Matters we are focusing on industry surveys and what they can tell us. This includes BioPlan and the Biopharma Resilience Index. Both huge reports providing insight into both the issues and opportunities facing the industry today. Firman Ghouze, Cytiva’s Marketing Director in APAC, explains how the Biopharma Resilience…

Single-cell sequencing is a technology that is giving us new genomic capabilities. Dr. Luciano Martelotto joins us to explain how single-cell sequencing allows scientists to understand cells as building blocks, much like LEGO™, which form part of a much bigger structure such as an organ, a tissue, a disease, and so forth. Dr. James McLaren utilizes…

We’ve talked about slime, seaweed, mushrooms, and now creepy crawlies. Insects are important biotech engines for medicines and meals. Algenex are using insect pupa to produce recombinant proteins that can be used for vaccines, which also has the potential to replace less sustainable raw materials. Insects are also excellent food sources, not just f…

We talk a lot about beginnings on Discovery Matters, but what about actually getting biologic drugs to people? Once the biologic is produced, aseptic filling and hybrid glass and plastic vials help to protect the biologic drug and the patient. Join Dodi, Conor and their guests, Chris Weikart the Chief Scientist at SiO2 Material Science, and Ross Go…

Who (in the scientific community) would have guessed that mRNA would be such a popular word in everyone's vocabulary one day? Well, as Conor puts it, "all the research by the people on the edges of the scientific community for the past 20 years are really paying dividends." Join Dodi, Conor, and their guests, Clive Glover the General Manager of Gen…

In this episode of Discovery Matters, enter into the world of slime: seaweed, agar and algae. Algae gave us the atmosphere that we have today and is still coming to our aid against climate change. Executive Director of the Climate Change Cluster at the University of Technology in Sydney, Photobiologist Peter Ralph, who once called himself Dr. Death…

The BSCP is working towards greater diversity and opportunities for people of colour and disadvantaged individuals within the biomedical and life sciences. Join Dodi and Conor and their guest, Dr Joan Reede, for this important episode where we learn what more can be done by ourselves and the industry as a whole to further diversity and inclusion. T…

How do you solve linked murders without witnesses? The answer, DNA. In this episode of Discovery Matters, we have been inspired by the true crime genre. We discuss a 32-year-old cold case which was the first to be solved with DNA profiling, and a murder in Las Vegas that was solved with the smallest amount of DNA ever! Join Dodi and Conor, and gues…

We adore happy accidents. But is that the only way to innovate? We talk to an innovation guru who's all about structure. Then we meet a scientist whose goal with innovation is to scale up. Enter the Testa Center in Sweden. Hear how it all comes together in this episode with Dodi and Conor. Transcript Keywords: innovation, discoveries, Testa Center,…

Short and sweet. Conor brings an interesting story about the role of horseshoe crabs in the pharmaceutical industry. Our guest and subject matter expert is Ding Jeak Ling - or Lynne, as she prefers to be called. She is a professor at the Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore, and her main research interest is in innate …