Signal
Summary: The impact of modern medicine on the human condition can’t be underestimated. From antibiotics to vaccines, medicine has changed the way our bodies work, answered deadly questions, and promised faster cures. But it’s not simple. Drug development is rife with tension. It costs a lot of money, and takes a long time. Most things fail. But when they succeed, they can make a tremendous difference in people’s lives. Where will the next breakthroughs come from? How will we pay for them? Who decides who gets them? This is SIGNAL, a podcast from Stat that sorts through the flood of health and medical news to deliver stories of the next development, controversy or breakthrough that will affect us all. Hosted by veteran biotech journalist Luke Timmerman and CNBC biotech and pharma reporter Meg Tirrell, SIGNAL explores the characters and the dramas behind today’s medicine, from biotech boardrooms, to research labs, to your corner pharmacy. Subscribe to us on iTunes and Stitcher, or visit us on our website, www.statnews.com.
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Hi, Signal listeners, we have some happy news to share — Meg is getting married! That means we’ll be taking a break for a few weeks, but fear not, Signal will be back in March with fabulous new shows on how our medicines get made. Take a listen to see what’s up next. Spoiler alert: It includes killer snails.
Alzheimer’s disease poses a huge threat to our health and our economy — more than 5 million Americans are estimated to currently have the disease. But it has been as good at evading treatment as just about any disease out there. For decades, scientists’ efforts in treating Alzheimer's have been focused on a protein in the brain called beta amyloid. Some think that the seeds of the disease’s destruction lie in the protein. But others in the field think that may be a dead end. Who is right? The Signal podcast is produced by Katie Hiler. Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT.
In the newest episode of Signal, we explore the birth of biotech and the big business behind how our drugs really get made. To do that, we need to take you to San Francisco. About this time every year, biotech nerds everywhere are gearing up to go to San Francisco for the biggest annual event on the financial side of the industry — the J.P. Morgan health care conference. The sheer size and frenzy of this gathering shows how in just 35 years the biotech industry has exploded. The Signal podcast is produced by Katie Hiler. Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT Music: Winner Winner, Sonatina, and Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - by Kevin MacLeod Interstellar Export - by The Insider
It’s the holidays! Looking for a gift that really shows you care? How about getting your loved one’s genome sequenced? It took 15 years and $3 billion to sequence the first human genome. Today you can get some genetic information for as little as $199. No matter what you spend on your personal genome — and now there are a bunch of options at very different price points — you’re still going to get back results you may not exactly be able to use in everyday life. But if you're New Year's resolution is to "know thyself" better, then this episode of Signal is for you. The Signal podcast is produced by Katie Hiler. (Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT) Music: Rollin at 5 - 210 - full, by Kevin MacLeod
Isaac Newton famously said that “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” It’s a crucial point. Scientists discover new things by building on facts established by those who came before. But what if the science that laid the groundwork for new discoveries ... was wrong? In this week's episode, we explore what some have come to call the "crisis of reproducibility" plaguing the world of scientific research. Way more than you’d expect, scientific papers that were once presented as fact are taken back. The Signal podcast is produced by Katie Hiler. (Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT)
An FDA panel reviewed a drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy called drisaperson on Tuesday. What it found is not encouraging. The Signal podcast takes a look at what happened and where things go from here.
In this episode we turn the spotlight on a rare but debilitating disease affecting young boys, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne boys have a genetic mutation that affects their ability to produce a protein essential for normal muscle function. By their pre-teen years, boys with Duchenne are almost always confined to wheelchairs. They are only expected to live into their 20s. And despite decades of research and telethon fundraising, there is still no cure. But two companies have developed drugs to treat Duchenne and are currently racing to get them approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But while the government deliberates, the countdown clock for boys with Duchenne is ticking. Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT Music: Time to Move and Motivate, by The Insider Snowing, by Peter Rudenko Our Ego [feat. Different Visitor], by Broke For Free Gloci, by Graham Bole Elefly, by Eino Toivanen
Who are we? In the debut episode of Signal we take a "gutsy" look into one of the biggest scientific mysteries today - the microbiome.
An introduction to Signal, a podcast from Stat. (Image: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
