The Genetics Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 91: 2022 Genetics Round-up with Dr Veera Rajagopal Dec 24, 2022

Show notes

If there’s one genetics podcast episode to listen to this year, it’s this one. In the final episode of The Genetics Podcast for 2022, we’re joined by Dr Veera Rajagopal, who is known as the ‘GWAS storyteller’ on Twitter for his prolific threads breaking down the latest findings in genetics. Join Patrick and Veera as they review the most exciting stories in genetics this year, from the impact the bubonic plague has had on human evolution and our modern day lives, to looking forward and celebrating more diverse, representative populations in genetics research. For those interested in doing further reading, Veera has kindly provided links to all the papers he references during this podcast episode, and we encourage you to follow him on Twitter @doctorveera and substack (https://gwasstories.substack.com/) for regular posts on the latest in genetics and genomics. Links to the papers discussed in the episode: Mind blowing genetics Natural selection in humans at speed never seen before – black death story (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05349-x) Hypermutated human genomes - first glimpse into the genetic and environmental factors that accelerate germline mutation rates (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04712-2) A new monogenic cause for obesity--a structural variant that causes a skin specific gene to express in every cell of the body (https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-022-00703-9) Milestone achievements Remarkable moment in the human genetics—saturated GWAS of height in 5.4 million individuals (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05275-y) Looking beyond “exomes” – first population scale WGS study in the UK Biobank—what to expect as move from exomes to genomes? (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04965-x) Proteomics at scale—another successful industry-UKB Biobank collaboration to establish world’s largest proteomics resource (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.17.496443v1) A step in the right direction 150,000 exomes from Mexico - first large scale exome database for a non-European population (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.26.495014v1) First glimpse into the genetics of age of onset T2D in Indian population (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.14.508063v1) Shedding more lights on the PRS barriers to non-European ancestry (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01835-x)

EP 90: Patient-centric drug development in ALS with Ronald van der Geest, Chief Development Officer of Treeway Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

"If someone tells you it’s not possible, then it’s interesting" according to Treeway Chief Development Officer Ronald van der Geest. Founded in 2012 by two ALS patients who refuse to take their diagnoses lying down, Treeway develops novel treatments for ALS, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Join Patrick and Ronald in our latest podcast episode as they explore Treeway’s roots, the four major disciplines required for successful development of novel treatments, discuss the landscape of ALS treatment options in 2022, and celebrate the power of a small group of people, smart design and resilience.

EP 89: Baroness Nicola Blackwood on the UK's leading role in delivering 'genomic healthcare for everyone' Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

This week Patrick is joined by Baroness Nicola Blackwood, the first female MP for Oxford. She was elected by MPs of all parties to Chair the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee. Baroness Blackwood remains the youngest-ever select committee chair in British history and the only woman to have held that position. Nicola is chair of Genomics England and has been a champion for genomics and the life sciences in UK policy. This episode covers the past, present, and future of genomics in healthcare in the UK and some of the exciting initiatives on the horizon, including whole genome sequencing in newborn screening.

EP 88: Precision oncology: how Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is powering care today and the treatments of the future with Christine Ward (Takeda) and Geoff Oxnard (Foundation Medicine) Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, guests Christine Ward, VP and Head of Oncology and Cell Therapy Precision & Translational Medicine at Takeda and Geoff Oxnard, Thoracic Oncologist and VP of Foundation Medicine talk to Patrick about Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in precision oncology. Also covered are the impact of large-scale genetic datasets on patient diagnosis, data consortiums enabling pioneering discoveries, and the recent partnership between Takeda and Foundation Medicine.

EP 87: Representation Matters: Why equitable access and community engagement are critical in genetic research Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

This episode, our Partnerships Lead, Lindsey Wahlstrom-Edwards dove into the importance of representation in genetic research, covering the techniques used by leading organisations to make research more accessible and representative. Lindsey is joined by Listen to speakers Natasha Ratcliffe of COUCH Health, Del Smith of Acclinate and Ebony Scott of Lupus Research Alliance to learn how to make sure your precision medicine study is inclusive by design.

EP 86: Heidi Rehm PhD, Chief Genomics Officer at Massachusetts General Hospital on curating and collaborating genomic datasets to guide the future of diagnostic and clinical research Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

This week, Patrick speaks to Heidi Rehm, Chief Genomics Officer at Massachusetts General Hospital. Heidi is a leader in defining standards for the interpretation of sequence variants and is a principal investigator for Clinical Genome Resource, otherwise known as ClinGen. ClinGen provides free and publicly accessible resources to support gene and variant interpretation. Heidi also co-leads the Matchmaker Exchange, aiding gene discovery for rare diseases.

EP 85: Dr Jessica Kissinger on large-scale parasite genomics and the power of multi-omic data Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

Dr Jessica Kissinger and her collaborators run some of the world's largest databases of multi-omic data from eukaryotic parasites. In this episode, we explore major findings in the field and Dr Kissinger's vision of large-scale interoperable datasets driving novel discoveries. Plus, Dr Kissinger shares her recent and personal experience of diagnosis with a rare disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, that puts everything into perspective.

EP 84: Mark Kotter, CEO, and Founder of bit.bio, on creating every cell type and kickstarting a cell therapy revolution Sep 01, 2022

Show notes

Doctors have been transplanting organs for decades, but can we transplant reprogrammed stem cells to rejuvenate the human body? This week Patrick discusses transcriptional reprogramming, and bit.bio's opti-ox technology that has the potential to create every cell type and help kickstart a cell therapy revolution. With Mark Kotter Ph.D., neurosurgeon, and CEO and Founder of bit.bio.

EP 83: Daphne Koller, Founder & CEO of Insitro - Integrating machine learning and biology at scale to reimagine drug discovery Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

About this Episode: This week’s guest, Daphne Koller, is the Founder and CEO of Insitro - a company shifting the paradigm of new drug discovery using predictive models. Patrick and Daphne talk about why she founded Insitro, how to create unified datasets, and the importance of being realistic about drug discovery.

EP 82: Lessons from the world's largest genomic datasets with Daniel MacArthur, Director of the Centre for Population Genomics. Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

This week’s guest, Daniel MacArthur, is the Director of the Centre for Population Genomics at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Daniel and Patrick discuss the impact of large-scale genetic datasets on patient diagnosis and treating genetic subtypes of disease, the power of big data and consortiums to enable pioneering discoveries, and give advice for early career researchers thinking about the dichotomy between industry and academia.

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