Seventy years since James Watson and Francis Crick first revealed DNA’s double-helix structure, Dr Kersten Hall shares the story of the scientist who almost beat them to their major discovery: molecular biologist William Astbury. Speaking with Emily Briffett, Kersten details how, despite missing this major opportunity, Astbury forged a new discipline, made p ... Show More
Sep 3
Roman kings: myth, memory and the making of power
Before Rome's republic and the age of emperors, there were kings… or so the story goes. Beginning with Romulus, and ending with Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, these rulers loomed large in the Roman imagination – but is their narrative fact or fiction? In this episode, Emily Briffett ... Show More
41m 28s
May 2023
70th anniversary of the discovery of DNA’s structure
James Watson and Francis Crick, who detailed the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, are perhaps two of the most iconic scientists of the 20th Century. Yet the story of how they made their incredible discovery is perhaps equally famous, with a notorious narrative suggesting th ... Show More
32m 46s
Apr 2019
SYMHC Classics: Rosalind Franklin, DNA's Dark Lady
We're reaching back to 2011 for an episode from Sarah and Deblina about a woman scientist. The men who are usually credited with discerning DNA's structure won the Nobel Prize in 1962, but they used Rosalind Franklin's research. In 1952, she captured the best DNA image available ... Show More
25m 11s
Jul 2020
Rosalind Franklin: the hidden story of DNA
This week we're celebrating the hundredth birthday of DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin and how her work helped to unravel the DNA helix. Plus, in the news: COVID causes heart damage, water shortages in England thanks to climate change, and magic bullets to make shellfish more nutrit ... Show More
56m 7s
Sep 2021
Listen to This: 'Hope Lies in Dreams,' a New Podcast from Nature Biotechnology
This is a story of desperation, anger, poverty—and triumph over long odds to crack the code of a degenerative disease that had been stealing the lives of children since it was first discovered more than a century ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
4m 41s
Jul 2018
Sam Kean, “The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code” (Back Bay, 2013)
In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code (Bay Back Books, 2013), he explores the wonders of the magical building blo ... Show More
50m 13s