The Living World: Biology Around The Globe, St Andrews Radio - STAR

12/04/2024

The votes are in! While The Living World didn’t win Best Educational Show of 2024, I was awarded an Honorary Life Membership award by STAR for running the show for 4 years.

So happy 4 years to The Living World! 🎉

08/04/2024

Episode 48 is posted! Hope you guys enjoy! Also keep an eye out for the results of the 2024 STAR Awards (on April 11)! The Living World is running for Best Educational Show for the 2nd year running.

Episode 48: University of Bristol

Research for this week came from the University of Bristol (UK), looking at if pet rabbit owners can tell if their rabbits are in pain or not.

Background research links:
https://globalpetindustry.com/article/which-are-uks-top-10-pets (top pets in the UK - rabbits are #3!)
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rabbits (more stats on rabbits as pets)

News Publications:
https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-024-03947-7 (original research article)
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/neuroscience/news/2024/bunny-pain.html (news brief 1)
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240326235451.htm (news brief 2)

Background Rabbits are popular family pets. They are prey species and so have evolved to hide signs of illness and pain. Recent research has developed robust pain scales for use in a clinical setting, but to date none has examined rabbit owners’ ability to recognise pain in their animals. This stu...

06/04/2024

Make sure to keep an eye out for the show at the upcoming STAR Awards! We’ve been nominated again⭐️

02/04/2024

Tune in for Episode 48 tonight at 6 PM GMT!

29/03/2024

Episode 47 is posted! Hope you guys enjoy!

Episode 47: University of Edinburgh

Research for this week came from the University of Edinburgh (UK), looking at the discovery of new genes involved in male infertility.

Background research links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562258/ #:~:text=These%20include%20endocrine%20disorders%20 (info on male infertility)
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17201-male-infertility (more info on male infertility)
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/infertility/causes/ (info on male and female infertility)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556033/ (info on female infertility)
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/male-contraceptive-disables-sperm #:~:text=Men%20generally%20have%20two%20options,stopped%20from%20reaching%20an%20egg (info on male contraceptive - on currently being trialed for sAC)

News Publication:
https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(24)00050-9 (original research article)
https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/news-events/news-2023/male-fertility-gene-discovery-reveals-path-to-succ (news brief 1)
https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/137250/spocd1-and-c19orf84-insights-into-severe-male-infertility/ (news brief 2)

Researchers have discovered the role of two genes that protect mammalian germ cells, which could influence male fertility.

26/03/2024

Tune in for Episode 47 tonight at 6 PM GMT!

21/03/2024

Episode 46 is posted! Hope you guys enjoy!

Episode 46: Columbia University

Research for this week came from the Columbia University (US), looking at the role of ferroptosis (a new mode of cell death) in cancer.

Background research links:
https://news.columbia.edu/news/10-years-cell-death-discovery-shows-promise-treating-disease (on the history since ferroptosis discovery)
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)00708-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867422007085%3Fshowall%3Dtrue (more info on what's happened since ferroptosis discovery)
https://molecular-cancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12943-022-01530-y #:~:text=Ferroptosis%20is%20an%20intracellular%20iron,new%20opportunities%20for%20cancer%20therapy (ferroptosis and cancer)
https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-is-the-role-of-ferroptosis-in-cancer.h00-159617856.html (more on ferroptosis and cancer)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098222031438X (more info on ferroptosis)
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.1079548/full (more info on ferroptosis)

News Publication:
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00067-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867424000679%3Fshowall%3Dtrue (original research article)
https://news.columbia.edu/news/paper-offers-new-details-form-cell-death-discovered-columbia (news brief 1)
https://scitechdaily.com/fatal-fats-columbia-researchers-discover-rare-lipids-triggering-cell-death/ (news brief 2)

Scientists have discovered that a rare lipid type plays a pivotal role in ferroptosis, a form of cell death. This finding sheds light on the mechanisms of cell death in ferroptosis and opens up possibilities for treating diseases by either preventing or inducing ferroptosis. Columbia researchers

19/03/2024

Tune in tonight for Episode 46 at 6 PM GMT!

14/03/2024

Episode 45 is posted! Hope you guys enjoy!

Episode 45: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Research for this week came from the Brigham and Women's Hospital (US), looking at the implementation of oncolytic viruses to treat glioblastomas (brain cancer).

Background research links:
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/brain-tumours/types/glioblastoma (on glioblastomas)
https://www.abta.org/tumor_types/glioblastoma-gbm/ (also on glioblastomas)
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri #:~:text=MRI%20is%20a%20type%20of,bones%2C%20muscles%20and%20blood%20vessels (on MRI)

News Publication:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06623-2 (original research article)
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02944-4 (news brief 1)
https://www.genengnews.com/topics/cancer/oncolytic-virus-therapy-shows-promise-against-glioblastoma-in-first-human-trial/ (news brief 2)
https://www.onclive.com/view/fda-grants-fast-track-designation-to-can-3110-for-recurrent-high-grade-glioma (news brief 3)

A first-in-human trial of an oncolytic virus shows that it is safe and seems to stimulate anti-tumour immune responses.

12/03/2024

Tune in tonight at 6 PM GMT for episode 45!

05/03/2024

Episode 44 is posted! Hope you guys enjoy, and make sure to tune in next week for another episode!

Episode 44: U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Research for this week came from the U.S. NIH. A big thank you to my interviewee Richard Conroy for sharing his perspectives as a University of St Andrews grad and alum (BSc. 1990, and PhD. 1994), and as a Program Manager at NIH. Thanks Richard!

Background research links:
https://commonfund.nih.gov/HuBMAP (if anyone would like to learn more about the program Richard heads!)
https://www.nih.gov/ (for more info on NIH)

Official website of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH is one of the world's foremost medical research centers. An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH is the Federal focal point for health and medical research. The NIH website offers health information for t...

05/03/2024

Tune in tonight at 6 PM GMT for Episode 44!

I’ll be hosting special guest, Richard Conroy, a Program Leader at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). 🧫 🧬