Base Pairs

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 Lippman about the threats that climate change poses to agriculture, and how CRISPR could help overcome them.

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 about whether it’s time to redefine the gene.

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.

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 Professor Molly Hammell, about how she ended up studying a type of genomic dark matter called transposons.

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 / Science and Society Picture Library)

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 Vacon Sartirani

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 patients are usually too sick to be helped by conventional therapies by the time they’re diagnosed. But recent research on antioxidant levels in the cells of pancreatic cancer patients is homing in on a new, safer avenue for treatment—and it’s not what you’d think based on the reputation antioxidants have gained in popular culture.

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 not investing in more young, dedicated, passionate scientists.

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.

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.

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​ disorder.