Stay ConnectedPodcast interviews with genius-level (top .1%) practitioners, scientists, researchers, clinicians and professionals in Cancer, 3D Bio Printing, CRISPR-CAS9, Ketogenic Diets, the Microbiome, Extracellular Vesicles, and more.
Subscribe today for the latest medical, health and bioscience insights from geniuses in their field(s).
Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Dr. Andreas Werner of the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences at Newcastle University delivers a detailed overview of current research pertaining to the human genome.
Dr. Werner is skilled in many areas; he is a biochemist, molecular biologist, journalist, and teacher, currently working as an associate professor at Newcastle University specializing in RNA biology. Dr. Werner is widely known for his innovative work in the field of non-protein coding RNAs, specifically natural antisense transcripts. Dr. Werner received a PhD in Physiology at the University of Zurich.
Dr. Werner discusses his current work studying the human genome. Our genomes show small variations that make each person unique. With modern genome sequencing, the detection of mutations is now not only fast and efficient, but it is finally affordable. Dr. Werner talks about their specific work in this space. They are leading the way, investigating how mutations affect function, of various membrane proteins, in order to better grasp the underlying mechanisms of specific diseases. Dr. Werner explains transcription. Transcription is the initial step of gene expression, when a specific segment of DNA is copied into RNA by the enzyme RNA polymerase. DNA and RNA are both nucleic acids that use base pairs of nucleotides as a compatible, harmonious language. Dr. Werner and his team are particularly interested in the function of noncoding RNAs in the organization of the genome as well as the regulation of single genes.
The genome expert discusses some of the hypotheses that they are currently working on, and why. He explains cell structure and viral structure, and talks about the balance within cells. As Dr. Werner explains, double stranded RNA could possibly be a sign of low-level stress that occurs with aging, or other issue, and his team is looking for answers to multiple questions regarding links to degenerative disease. He talks about the importance of finding these double stranded RNAs to distinguish whether they are confined within the mitochondria and the nucleus or if they perhaps are leaking out and are interfering with protective mechanisms. Going further, Dr. Werner talks about specific inflammatory responses and some of the known and unknown factors regarding double stranded RNA.
Dr. Werner is a sought-after speaker at various world conferences on the subject of regulatory RNAs, epigentics and evolution. And he continues to work diligently toward the goal of deciphering a biological role for natural antisense transcripts.
Franklin M. Harold, noted author of The Way of the Cell: Molecules, Organisms and the Order of Life, discusses his research in complex biochemistry and thoughts on the origin of life.
Harold's long career has impacted many areas of science. Harold received his PhD in Comparative Biochemistry from U.C. Berkeley in 1955, and has spent a lifetime as a physiologist, specializing as a cell physiologist. It is the machinery of life, not its molecular constituents, that continues to fascinate him. As a young man, Harold was heavily influenced by the work of esteemed microbiologist, Roger Stanier, by whom he was taught that bacteria are not only the smallest creatures but also the simplest, and to truly understand life, one should study bacteria, not lab rats.
Harold talks about his long career in science and biology, starting with a passion for chemistry, which he developed at the age of fifteen. Over the years, he became more interested in cellular and evolutionary biology, and embarked on a prolific career in the scientific community. Harold discusses the tenets of Neo-Darwinism, and its need for tweaking, updating. He states that the early study was primarily focused on mutations in genes, but according to Harold, that doesn't tell the full story. He expounds on the properties of eukaryotic cells and their origin. Eukaryotic cells contain a nucleus and organelles, and they are encompassed by a plasma membrane. Some of the many organisms that possess eukaryotic cells are as follows: protozoa, fungi, plants, and animals.
The biochemistry expert states that organisms throw off new species because their environment changes. He states that in order to see the evolution of organisms we would have to change their environment in a novel way, and give it time, lots of time. Harold remarks that the major changes that resulted in new animal species have to do with the genes that affect the web of regulation, the regulatory elements that control how much, and to what extent, a particular gene is expressed. Harold goes on to say that he believes in the theory that life must have begun with very simple chemical systems, not necessarily involving a gene, but a system sufficiently complex and interactive to be able to reproduce itself. And while he states there is zero evidence for it, nor good models, it is however a speculation that Harold finds particularly interesting.
Harold served on the research staff of the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center in Denver, and was a longtime member of the faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Harold retired from Colorado State University in 2000 as Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Matthew J. Davis, MD, associate medical director and section chief of the neurology division at Sleep Dynamics, discusses the importance of sleep and the sleep-related disorders that many people face.
Dr. Davis has devoted much study to sleep disorders in general, including insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and parasomnias. He is board certified in neurology and sleep medicine, and his extensive education includes Vanderbilt University and then medical school at the University of Buffalo. In addition to his work at Sleep Dynamics, Dr. Davis is also a respected Clinical Assistant Professor in Neurology at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine.
Dr. Davis talks about his background and the keen interest he has developed in the study of sleep. As he states, the study of sleep is multi-disciplinary; it involves neurology, pulmonology, psychiatry and psychology. Today, sleep is finally being recognized as the truly important, but once overlooked, area that it is. He discusses the technical aspects of sleep issues and the new technology utilized. And as more and more data on the subject is collected, Dr. Davis seeks to use the vast information to improve sleep quality for everyone. He talks about what a truly good night's sleep actually means. The goal, he says, is not necessarily some externally measured parameter, but is in fact simply healthy sleep that allows an individual to function well the next day. It's not about specific hours; it's about an individual's specific needs, though population data will provide guidelines that are procured from averages.
The sleep expert talks about the impact of new devices and technologies that, surprisingly, aren't always productive for achieving improved sleep. He underscores that it is not about sleep time, but more about sleep quality. Specifically, he explains that many of the devices people use to measure aspects of sleep are really just accelerometers that measure movement and don't really provide important data on quality or depth of sleep. He cautions that these consumer devices do not measure all the parameters of sleep in a particularly useful way. From sleep staging to breathing, eye movement, heart rate, etc., there is so much that is not being measured that is critically relevant in regard to understanding whether quality, restorative sleep is being achieved.
The sleep expert talks about home sleep testing versus sleep lab testing, and the various circumstances that unfortunately taint some of the data. And he elaborates on the future of his work and the big areas he wants to make strides in, such as insomnia improvement. Dr. Davis hopes that through further research and testing they can help provide better, non-pharmacological treatments to allow people to find their way back to quality sleep.
Edward Franz Pace-Schott, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, delivers a fascinating auditory exploration of the many issues surrounding sleep, trauma, and anxiety.
Pace-Schott has spent the better part of his notable career studying anxiety and sleep related disorders. Pace-Schott's extensive research centers on how sleep assists humans in the regulation of their emotions and how sleep is altered in psychopathology. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School as well as the Director of the Sleep and Anxiety Disorders Laboratory. Pace-Schott holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience, earned at the prestigious Boston University.
The PhD discusses how sleep disturbance increases the risk of developing anxiety disorders. Studying people across the entire spectrum of psychological trauma, Pace-Schott looks at participants' sleep, as well as behavioral responses to emotional memory experiments known as fear extinction and fear conditioning. By studying sleep after traumatic experiences Pace-Schott is learning more about the impact of sleep on the mental and physical. Persistent sleep disturbances can put someone at a heightened risk for developing post-traumatic stress symptoms.
Pace-Schott details various shock-oriented experimentation that relates to fear response, called fear conditioning, citing examples such as how one might be afraid of a dark street if they had previously been attacked by a dog on a dark street. Additionally, his team utilizes experimentation techniques with fear extinction. He explains that when subjects are presented with a situation that has caused fear in the past, but now without the dreadful consequences, over time the reaction to that fear situation is decreased. Extinction, as Pace-Schott explains, creates a new inhibitory memory, that then reminds the person that this situation is not to be feared.
The sleep expert talks about ways to utilize sleep to strengthen the extinction memory, to bolster this within traumatized or phobic individuals. He details various experimentation in this area and how these issues affect the individuals. As he explains, sleep helps to increase the participants' ability to feel less fear about previously feared subjects. Testing provides information on the brain, body, and emotions, and the expression of circadian rhythms. They found that participants seemed to do better in the morning after restorative sleep, and retention of extinction learning. Pace-Schott's research is highly focused on sleep's influences on evolutionary ancient learning and the myriad memory processes that contribute to human emotion regulation.
Dan Abbate, CEO and cofounder of EIGHTY ONE-c (81-c.com), provides a complete overview of blockchain, security, and the new developing markets.
Abbate is a skilled entrepreneur and investor who has specialized in business process automation via advanced technology and organizational development. Throughout his illustrious career, Abbate has helped many innovative businesses overcome systemic challenges and advance forward with important, critical decisions regarding growth, revenue, operational performance, automation, profitability, systematization, organizational improvement, and much more. Abbate earned a degree from DePaul University in Philosophy and Business, and has continued his education at The Wharton School studying complex operations and financial performance.
Abbate talks about his background in 90s internet tech and how he organically moved into the crypto and blockchain area. He connected with the early movement and kept his eye on the crypto markets all along. He explains how he knew the underlying technology of blockchain, with its simplicity for ensuring security, would eventually come to dominate certain areas of transactional business.
Abbate discusses the many and varied regulations that have shaped the industry. He discusses the regulatory space in detail, and explains how it hasn't really changed with the times. He explains the structure of his company, 81-c, and its primary objectives. Since its inception in 2016, 81-c has sought to acquire solid companies that generate cash flow, and improve them. But in 2017, Abbate made the decision to securitize their portfolio and build an operating company that was backed by the new blockchain technology. And in 2018, as the SEC stepped in and made everything a security, it became clear that they could take their operating company and utilize the blockchain to push forward in transactional business.
Blox is aware that there is a tremendous amount of value created in the world that simply isn't accessible to most people. Thus blox is continually seeking ways to allow everyone to have a fair and equal opportunity to invest in the success of the world's greatest thinkers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Alon Muroch, cofounder and CEO of blox (blox.io), talks about the current state of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the new advances in portfolio management.
Muroch talks about his background in development and coding and how he discovered blockchain by accident. He recounts his early experiences seeking out a way to transfer money more effectively. Fast forwarding to the future, Muroch discusses how his company was created out of his own organic need to find a better way to sync various wallets and exchange accounts into one place, to better manage his assets.
Blox is more than numbers and charts; it is an incredibly efficient system that helps to provide a clearer image of your crypto assets. Muroch's company, Blox, has developed the most advanced, organized crypto currency asset and portfolio-tracking platform in the entire industry. The blox platform enables users to track, collect past transactions and pricing automatically, and more, by connecting directly to tens of blockchains as well as up to date crypto currency exchanges.
Muroch discusses the many potential problems that could arise when ordering one's books, regarding taxes and auditing. As he states, even a small error could become a giant problem when dealing with financial issues, and mistakes can be made easily. Even the practical side of daily transfers can be a place where mistakes happen. Muroch talks about transactional data, and how to make it robust and complete, and the importance of reporting and bookkeeping to ensure all records are intact. The financial technology expert provides a wealth of information on the future of blox and their work with accounting firms.
As Muroch explains, blox provides many tools to assist with accounting and for regulation compliance. He provides details on some of the plans blox is developing, from the re-imagination of transactional data to feedback-based development in the areas of wallets, ledgers, and high-level security features.
Michael J. Joyner, MD, physician, researcher, and noted expert on human performance and exercise physiology delivers an overview of the extensive study and research he has embarked upon throughout his long career in the field.
Dr. Joyner has spent a lifetime studying the human body and how it performs and functions. Through his impressive research studying exercise physiology he has made significant contributions to the greater understanding of muscle and skin blood flow, as well as blood pressure regulation, and of course athletic performance.
Dr. Joyner has been a respected consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as NASA and the groundbreaking research at his Mayo Clinic lab has been funded by the NIH since the early 90s. In this informative podcast Dr. Joyner talks about integrative physiology, how humans respond to complex challenges, and the limits of perspective. He discusses blood flow and the restorative properties of systems. He recounts some of the past experimentation regarding blood flow and circulation. He delves into detail about angiogenesis, which is the physiological process by which new blood vessels begin to form from those preexisting vessels already present, and formed in the initial stage of vasculogenesis. The doctor talks about gene therapy and drugs that have been used to stimulate blood vessel growth, but he stresses that the best means for achieving this goal is actually exercise.
Dr. Joyner discusses drug repurposing, and the history of various notable drugs that have found their purpose later, after development and trial. He talks about some of the early experimentation and important studies regarding bed rest, and how we have learned that we need to, in most cases, mobilize people as early as possible right after medical procedures and operations, etc. He expands on his thoughts about progress made in the surgical environment, and the future of technology—and how it can help us to improve. And he rounds the discussion back to his primary area of study—physiology and human performance, which he has studied intensively since the 80s.
The human performance expert discusses the latest findings regarding glucose and physical exercise. He states that exercise is really the key to fighting prediabetes and diabetes, and its effects are powerful. He discusses various trials, and drug development for many medical conditions, and the evidence that supports some of the new blood pressure controlling type drugs.
The prestigious Mayo Clinic named Dr. Joyner a Distinguished Investigator in 2010 and his lab provides major educational opportunities for students and trainees, as it continues to further the dialogue on human performance.
Brian McCarthy, Executive Vice President, Dentistry.com, provides an extensive overview of the current state of dental care.
As the operational leader of Dentistry.com as well as the Executive Vice President at Futuredontics, Inc., McCarthy has spent many years advancing the field of modern dentistry. His vision and strategic execution of goals has helped to deliver value to dentists and patients via the design and creation of multiple products that push interactions, leading to better quality dentistry for all.
McCarthy talks about a growing epidemic in the United States—the lack of oral care. McCarthy states that many Americans are simply not taking care of their teeth, and as the connection between oral care and overall wellness is significant, this is a problem. He talks in detail about how dentists in particular have been slow to adapt to the mobile web and have not taken full advantage of changes in technology. Interestingly, he mentions a study that showed 67% of US adults will expect to be able to book their healthcare appointments entirely online—by 2019. The future of online access is here, but the vast majority of dentists don't support online booking. Seeing this need, McCarthy sought to make dentistry more accessible for everyone. In any given year, less than half of the population goes to the dentist, and McCarthy states that this is a problem Dentistry.com aims to correct.
The dental care entrepreneur talks about the many advanced products that have been developed in the dental industry, from clear aligners to other orthodontic products and more. He discusses new equipment that reduces risk, and the great advances that are happening in tooth repair. McCarthy discusses preventive care in detail, and explains how modern dentistry can offer improvements in the arena of oral care. Today, dentists offer so many features in their offices that make the experience calmer, more fun, and sometimes even spa-like. As he states, it is the age of the consumer, and businesses that recognize that are moving ahead of their competition and excelling in the industry.
And McCarthy talks about the inclusion of texting technology in the marketing efforts of many dental offices. He discusses how the concept of teledentistry can improve patient/doctor relations. Teledentistry is the use of various information technology and advanced telecommunications for dental care consultation and education. While McCarthy is careful to point out that teledentistry is certainly not a replacement for office visits, it is an opportunity to have more direct contact with those who care for your teeth, an opportunity to learn more, and to motivate individuals to work toward improving their overall oral care.
Dr. Conrad began his career studying patterns of sleep interruption and doing work in various areas of epidemiology, and lately he's been working to improve population health and sleep conditions while entering the realm of policy and population management within larger healthcare systems.
More recently, he's been working in conjunction with the University of Minnesota on the evaluation of school start time issues and the connection between sleep, obesity, and adolescent health. "Adolescents have by nature a delay in their sleep schedule, beginning roughly around the age of 12…independent of their tendency to surf the internet and study late into the evening, there's perhaps a stronger drive to go to bed later and get up later," says Dr. Iber. As quasi-experimental evidence of this, some schools that have tried out later start times have seen better academic performance, fewer car accidents, improved moods and attention spans, and better overall sleep health. Conversely, a study out of Fairfax, VA found higher suicide rates, weight gain, and decreased academic performance among adolescents who regularly get fewer than five to six hours of sleep. So, why haven't widespread reforms been implemented?
Dr. Iber provides the answer to this question and many others, discussing a range of topics to include the latest advances in sleep medicine, such as the increased use of home monitoring and wearable devices to track sleep duration among patients who can't make it to a sleep clinic for in-house studies. He also touches on the increased emphasis being placed on police officers, health care providers, bus drivers, and other public service members to improve their sleep health. According to Dr. Iber, there is a growing awareness and acceptance of the importance of sleep, which is nothing but positive for individuals and public health in general. Interested in learning more? Press play for all the details.
Ever since he was a kid, Alex Bates held a fascination for the inner workings of the mind and brain, and the interconnectedness of philosophy and mathematics. So when the internet began really taking shape in the late 90s, it only felt natural for him to dive into the realm of artificial neural networks. He's since devoted his professional life to anything and everything that revolves around artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Bates discusses his role as co-founder of Sandbox, a company designed to support engineers by providing mentor networks and developing an investment and incubation community around AI and machine learning for B-to-B enterprise software. Among other topics, he explains the types of entrepreneurs they are best suited to help and the criteria they look for when making selections.
But before Sandbox, Bates was involved with Neocortex Ventures. "You can think of Neocortex Ventures as like an idea laboratory, where I have data scientists help people build ventures and I can invest as well," says Bates. He goes on to discuss some of the most surprising and impressive recent developments in the field of AI and machine learning, including generative adversarial neural networks and the fascinating results that can emerge, such as turning artistic paintings into 3D immersive videos, and the way in which this technology underscores the value and extent of human creativity as complimentary to AI--the combination of which leads to what he calls 'intelligence augmentation.' Press play for more.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
