The Genetics Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 31: COVID-19 - the human response to the virus, and what the future may hold with Columbia University Virologist Dr Angela Rasmussen Mar 20, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s bonus episode we talk to Dr Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen), a Virologist at Columbia University. She answers top questions surrounding COVID-19 and what this outbreak could mean for our future. Does genetics or blood type may affect the virus? How does the virus actually work and how do we test for it? Get a fuller picture of the virus, what we know so far, and how we can prevent this happening again.

EP 30: Patient powered research networks - the future of medical research with Jillian Hastings Ward Mar 17, 2020

Show notes

Today, Jillian Hastings Ward is a leader in the 100,000 genomes project, but she and her family started off as one of the first families whose DNA was sequenced by the project in 2015. She talks to Patrick about her son, Sam, who was one of the first children in the world to be diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder due to a fault in the GRIN1 gene. They discuss Jillian's vision for the future of 'patient-powered research networks' and the CureGRIN Foundation, which has received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

EP 29: Is breath testing the new frontier in preventive medicine? Conversation with Billy Boyle, Founder and CEO of Owlstone Medical Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

Early detection for diseases like cancer is important to everyone, but Owlstone Medical is leading the pack by creating a breathalyser that aims to diagnose diseases in the ultimate non-invasive test. Their ground-breaking technology is completely painless and uses breath - not blood - for early detection and diagnosis of disease. Patrick talks to Billy Boyle in this episode about his role as CEO at Owlstone Medical and the reasons behind his drive towards early diagnosis. From cancer detection to the effects of air pollution, the potential future uses for this amazing technology seems unlimited while also removing the fear of most current testing.

EP 28: Drug repurposing for rare disease and the future of health with Dr Bruce Bloom (CCO of Healx) and Dr Mike Tranfaglia (CSO of FRAXA) Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

In this double-bill episode, Patrick talks to two key rare disease researchers in the field: Dr Bruce Bloom, the CCO of Healx, and Dr Mike Tranfaglia, CSO of FRAXA. In this episode both draw on their wide-ranging personal and professional experiences to discuss the successes and opportunities of drug repurposing, the power of using machine learning, and the work they’ve been doing.

EP 27: From Big Data to New Medicines with Dr Jeff Barrett, CSO of Genomics PLC Feb 06, 2020

Show notes

Patrick interviews Dr Jeff Barrett from Genomics PLC about how genetic data can be used for drug discovery and the future of precision medicine. In this episode, Dr Barrett talks about going beyond genes to understand how they affect particular genetic risks and conditions. They also discuss the closeness of the genetics community and the sharing spirit when it comes to research.

EP 26: Dr Matt Might: Ultra-rare disease advocate, precision medicine researcher, and Obama advisor Jan 23, 2020

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Patrick interviews Dr Matt Might, whose personal and professional life has brought him all the way to advising Obama and setting up his own institute. In this exciting episode, Matt discusses how he went from a computer scientist to becoming significantly involved in rare disease research, despite a lack of academic background in biology.

EP 25: Ethics of DNA Marketplaces and Data Sharing with Dr Mahsa Shabani Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Patrick talks to Dr Mahsa Shabani, a researcher at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, University of Leuven. From the golden state killer to blockchain, they discuss the latest ethical issues in genetics. They look at data sharing and involvement of patients in genomics research, and talk about Dr Shabani’s most recent paper, which looks at the ethical concerns with motivations for those who want to make their data available for research. Asking if people are choosing to share their data for financial reasons, is this ethical?

EP 24: Diagnosis to clinical trial in 6 weeks with Gemma Stunt Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Dr Patrick Short talks to Gemma Stunt about her son Bertie’s diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, how to get involved in clinical trials and what life is really like with a currently ‘incurable’ genetic condition.

EP 23: Microbiome in birth and health with Dr Yan Shao Nov 21, 2019

Show notes

Our guest this week is Dr Yan Shao from The Wellcome Sanger Institute, a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute. In this episode, Dr Shao discusses the findings from his most recent study; where he and his team found significant differences in the microbiomes of newborn babies depending on delivery method.

EP 22: Behind every data point is a person with Dr Paul Wicks Oct 29, 2019

Show notes

Get to know a little bit more about our new scientific advisor Dr Paul Wicks. Paul has dedicated much of his career to patient-centric research and building patient communities, particularly in rare disease. Paul has spent 17 years in the digital health and online community space, 13 of which were spent as a senior leader at PatientsLikeMe.

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