Steministas

CRISPR wins the Nobel Prize!

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to two women this year for the application of CRISPR to biotechnology. This fascinating technology has huge implications for science! In this podcast we talk about the life of Alfred Nobel who founded the Nobel prize, what CRISPR is, and why it is so exciting that two women won the Nobel Prize. 
 
SOURCES: //
Alfred Nobel's life: https://www.nobelprize.org/alfred-nobel/alfred-nobels-life-and-work/ 
CRISPR Nobel Prize: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/nobel-prize-awarded-women/#:~:text=Only%20one%20woman%2C%20Marie%20Curie,1911%20Nobel%20Prize%20in%20Chemistry.

Does turkey make you sleepy?

Since Thanksgiving is next week, in this episode, we take a closer look at the common belief that turkey makes you sleepy. We discuss the science behind this claim and whether or not there is any truth to it.
Sources
Amino acids:https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002222.htm 
Tryptophan:https://www.sleep.org/what-is-tryptophan/Tryptophan supplement contamination:  http://www.nemsn.org/Articles/truth_about_tryptophan.htm 
Tryptophan and sleepiness: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/science/no-the-tryptophan-in-turkey-wont-make-you-sleepy.html#:~:text=As%20the%20common%20myth%20goes,repeated%2C%20but%20it's%20not%20true. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97449569 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-does-turkey-make-you-sleepy/
Pubmed studies:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4370080/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2669092/
Double-blind study-sleep: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2020/3142874/#B63

What is Phrenology?

In this week's Steministas, we discuss a recently published paper about predicting trustworthiness based on people's facial expressions from Nature Communication. This paper stirred up quite the controversy online. People are arguing that this paper promotes phrenology which is the study of people's qualities and characteristics based off of measuring their physical characteristics - specifically people's heads and faces.
In this episode, we discuss the history of phrenology, what the paper analyzed, and the potential implications of a strong, scientific paper publishing a paper that seems to promote phrenology. 
 
SOURCES: //
Article about main paper we discuss: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5pawq/an-ai-paper-published-in-a-major-journal-dabbles-in-phrenology
 
Phrenology history: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/facing-a-bumpy-history-144497373/
 
Phrenology history: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/the-shape-of-your-head-and-the-shape-of-your-mind/282578/
 
Phrenology charts: https://allthatsinteresting.com/phrenology-charts#1
 
Phrenology and racism: https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2017/03/05/phrenology-and-scientific-racism-in-the-19th-century/
 
Indian culture and Andrew Jackson: https://jah.oah.org/teaching-the-jah/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-civilizations-indian-intellectual-culture-during-the-removal-era-1/#jackson
Phineas Gage: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/05/21/528966102/why-brain-scientists-are-still-obsessed-with-the-curious-case-of-phineas-gage

How do hurricanes form?

As we near the end of one of the most active hurricane seasons in decades, we can't help but wonder why this season is so much worse! To understand why, we dive into the factors that go into the making of a hurricane. We discuss what causes hurricanes, including some serious physics lessons involving magical paper airplanes that will blow your mind! We then briefly speculate on what could be causing the increase in frequency of these storms. 
 
Sources 
Hurricane naming practice: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/storm-names.html
Retired hurricane names: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames_history.shtml
2020- ran out of letters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/hurricane-season-names-atlantic-us-tropical-storm-beta
Typhoon Haishen: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54046150
 
Hurricanes: https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/index.html
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/how-hurricanes-form.html#:~:text=Warm%20ocean%20waters%20and%20thunderstorms,enhancing%20shower%20and%20thunderstorm%20activity.
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/
https://scijinks.gov/hurricane/
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/storms/how-hurricanes-form
Coriolis effect: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/coriolis-effect/
Hurricane season: https://www.noaa.gov/stories/peak-of-hurricane-season-why-now
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/14/647944033/september-is-peak-hurricane-season-why-is-that

What is the science behind X-Men?

The original X-Men movie brought the Marvel comics to life for the first time in 2000. And years before the completion of the human genome project or the discovery of CRISPR, this film already opened up interesting questions about genetics when we reflect back 20 years later! In this episode we discuss the science behind X-Men and the politics and ethics of classifying individuals as mutants versus normal. 
SOURCES: // 
Genetic changes happening during puberty: https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3841
Genetics behind X-men: 
http://www.wiringthebrain.com/2016/03/the-surprising-real-genetics-behind-x.html
We’re all mutants: 
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/we-re-all-x-men-as-far-as-genetic-mutations-go/
X-men as species: https://archive.nerdist.com/the-genetics-needed-to-make-x-men/
Kinds of mutations: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22011/
Fixing DNA mistakes: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/dna-replication-and-causes-of-mutation-409/
Mutation number: https://www.livescience.com/33347-mutants-average-human-60-genetic-mutations.html
Crispr-X-men:
https://www.synthego.com/blog/could-crispr-make-x-men-a-realistic-possibility
Radiation and cancer therapy: 
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/radiation-therapy/about/pac-20385162 
 

What is the science behind Jurassic Park?

Jurassic Park is a cult classic movie for many. It was one of the first movies to introduce dinosaurs to the general population and this love of dinosaurs has continued and grown over the past 30 years. The first Jurassic Park movie sets up the science behind this dinosaur theme park. In this podcast, we delve into the genetic feasibility behind creating dinosaurs, and also talk about the accuracy of how the film portrays dinosaurs. 
SOURCES: //
Jurassic Park documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5qpyx98ys
Jurassic Park science article: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44293060 
Frogs changing sexes: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/frogs-reverse-sex-more-often-than-thought/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=facebook::cmp=editorial::add=fb20190321animals-frogsexreversal::rid=&sf209705676=1&fbclid=IwAR1GKbss-MLKUCqdSNjarPtwVFmv2BMXgc2qYKpbrV2NJDm5RDk24ZoEKxo#close 
Interesting context of DNA research: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/jurassic-park-reveals-delicate-interplay-between-science-and-science-fiction-180969331/ 
George Pionar and amber: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-paleobiologist-who-inspired-the-science-in-jurassic-park/
Reproductive cloning: https://knowgenetics.org/cloning/ 
Woolly mammoth: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/science/woolly-mammoth-extinct-genetics.html
How they did the effects for the water vibrating: https://www.businessinsider.com/jurassic-park-water-cup-2015-6
Velociraptor error: https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a32445925/jurassic-park-velociraptor-error/
Velociraptor/Deinonychus debacle
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/you-say-velociraptor-i-say-deinonychus-33789870/
Velociraptor feathers: 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-fossil-reveals-velociraptor-sported-feathers/
https://screenrant.com/jurassic-park-dinosaurs-no-feathers-reason/
Genome editing of embryos: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/commission-charts-narrow-path-editing-human-embryos
Ethics meeting: https://www.nap.edu/resource/25665/Heritable%20Human%20Genome%20Editing%20Report%20Summary%20-%20FINAL%2020200903.pdf

Race and Medicine

This is our second podcast in a two-part series about race. In this podcast, we discuss the role of race in medicine. We review the pros and cons of considering race in medicine. We also talk about the origins of some of the most common race-based medical stereotypes. Finally, beyond human interactions, we reveal how implicit biases can become engrained in the very algorithms and systems that decide our care and further increase health disparities.
Sources:
Science “Race and Medicine” – Constance Holden 2003
BMC Health Services Research “Is race medically relevant? A qualitative study of physicians’attitudes about the role of race in treatment decision-making” - Shedra Amy Snipes et al. 2011
Skin tone: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/22/malone-mukwende-medical-handbook/
The problem with race-based medicine:
https://www.ted.com/talks/dorothy_roberts_the_problem_with_race_based_medicine?language=en
Redheads and pain: https://www.pnas.org/content/100/8/4867
Black patients and pain:
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain
https://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4296 
Meta-analysis of disparities in pain meds:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22239747/
In-group bias:
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/vanbavel/lab/documents/Mende-Siedlecki.etal.2019.JEPG.pdf
Spirometers: “Breathing Race into the Machine” by Lundy Braun
Origin of myths about physiological racial differences: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html
John Brown’s personal accounts:
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/jbrown/jbrown.html
Glomerular Filtration rates and race:
https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/docs/12-10-4004_abe_faqs_aboutgfrrev1b_singleb.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9214396/
https://medicine.uw.edu/news/uw-medicine-exclude-race-calculation-egfr-measure-kidney-function#:~:text=As%20of%20June%201%2C%202020,excludes%20race%20as%20a%20variable.
https://www.kidney.org/news/establishing-task-force-to-reassess-inclusion-race-diagnosing-kidney-diseases 
Experience of Black physicians:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/01/880373604/to-be-young-a-doctor-and-black-overcoming-racial-barriers-in-medical-training
BiDil: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60052-X/fulltext
https://www.nature.com/articles/6500489 
CYP2D6 gene: https://www.nature.com/articles/gim201680
Race and pharmacogenetics: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/pharmacogenetics-personalized-medicine-and-race-744/
Sickle cell disease: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/features/keyfinding-trait.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2093356/
https://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1334&context=senior_capstone
Bias in Healthcare algorithm:
Science “Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations” Obermeyer et al. 2019
Nature “Millions affected by racial bias in health-care algorithm” Heidi Ledford 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/10/24/racial-bias-medical-algorithm-favors-white-patients-over-sicker-black-patients/

Is Race Genetic?

This is our first podcast in a two-part series about race. In this podcast, we discuss the difficult topic of race and genetics through the lens of science and history. First, we discuss the history of racism beginning in the 1500s, then shift into how science was used to justify racism in both Europe and America. Throughout the podcast, we unpack the question of if race is genetic or just a social construct by delving into some genetic concepts about disease and ancestry. Finally, we discuss some genetic examples that are normally used to try and justify that race is genetic. 
 
// SOURCES
Articles: 
1547 Vagrancy Act: 
https://www.intriguing-history.com/edward-vi-enacts-harsh-statute-against-vagabonds/
Virginia Slave Codes summary: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_act_concerning_Servants_and_Slaves#:~:text=The%20Virginia%20Slave%20Codes%20of,the%20crown%20colony%20of%20Virginia.
Actual Virginia Slave Codes:
http://hackettlatinacademy.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/5/1/22510182/virginiaslavecodes.pdf
d
Genetics and race article: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/
Genetics and race article:  https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/race-is-real-but-its-not-genetic
Scientific Racism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism#Carl_Linnaeus
MAO-A gene: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/code-rage-the-warrior-gene-makes-me-mad-whether-i-have-it-or-not/
Books: 
DNA is not Destiny - Steven Heine: https://www.amazon.com/DNA-Not-Destiny-Misunderstood-Relationship/dp/0393244083
A Troublesome Inheritance - Nicholas Wade: https://www.amazon.com/Troublesome-Inheritance-Genes-Human-History/dp/1594204462
 

Who was Henrietta Lacks?

As part two of our series on unethical treatment of Black people in science and medicine, we tell the story of Henrietta Lacks. We all owe Henrietta thanks for the birth of HeLa cells. These cells, which came from a cancerous tumor removed from Henrietta, became the first human cell line. HeLa started a biological revolution! Unfortunately, Henrietta and the Lacks family were uninformed and treated poorly by the medical staff and researchers involved in the process. Her experience illustrates how important and divisive informed consent and tissue bioethics still is in this country.
Sources:
Book: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” - Rebecca Skloot
Update to the Common Rule: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/18/510442240/scientists-neednt-get-a-patients-consent-to-study-blood-or-dna
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/5-things-you-need-know-about-revised-common-rule
Lacks family and privacy: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/08/07/209807857/decades-after-lacks-death-family-gets-a-say-on-her-cells
https://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/03/26/175351289/sequencing-of-hela-genome-revives-genetic-privacy-concerns
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-lacks-family-reach-understanding-share-genomic-data-hela-cells
Jim Watson interview: https://www.sciencealert.com/father-of-dna-james-watson-stripped-of-accolades-in-ugly-racism-row

What is the Tuskegee syphilis experiment?

This the first podcast in a series of two podcasts on unethical treatment of Black people in medicine. In this podcast, we share about the horrific Tuskegee syphilis experiment where Black men who had syphilis were recruited and denied treatment for their disease. We discuss the original goals of the experiment, how the 40-year long experiment was brought to the public's eye, and how clinical trials changed after this unethical horror.
 
SOURCES: //
Distrust of medical research: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/tuskegee-study-medical-distrust-research/487439/
Washington Post ‘Bad Blood’ article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/16/youve-got-bad-blood-the-horror-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/
Bad blood case study: https://philosophy.tamucc.edu/texts/bad-blood
Tuskegee experiments: https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study
Tuskegee study’s impacts on black men: https://www.nber.org/papers/w22323.pdf