Discovery Matters

In this episode of Discovery Matters, hosts Dodi and Conor explore how synthetic biology can lead to transformative breakthroughs when it comes to dealing with global health problems. Through their conversation with Justin Vigar, a PhD student in Dr. Keith Pardee's lab at the University of Toronto in Canada, we learn how his team's paper-based diagnostic tool has the potential to provide faster, more cost-efficient, and accessible diagnostics for underserved locations. This is complemented by Amir Pandi and Tobi Erb's discussion of using AI and synthetic biology to develop new antimicrobial peptides.

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Explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to revolutionize biomedical research and make personalized healthcare a reality.

Tune in to Discovery Matters to see how AI and machine learning will be the future of biomedical research. Featuring interviews with Professor Kourosh Saeb-Parsy and Dr Namshik Han — leaders in the AI and biotech space — this episode delves into the significance of advanced technology for unlocking discoveries in transplantation, understanding the causes of diseases, precision medicine, and more.

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Let’s explore the world of organoids and their potential to revolutionize disease treatment. Joined by Matthias Zilbauer and Roisin Owens, we look at the interplay of the gut-brain axis with organic electronic materials. Dive into the advances in organoid and microbial models used to develop treatments for illnesses such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, and Ulcerative Colitis. Join Dodi and Conor to discover how bioengineering could change our understanding of health and disease - and our lives.

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we discuss the exciting potential of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver genetic material and therapeutics to target cells and tissues. We are joined by Lloyd Jeffs, Senior Director of Biopharma Services at Precision NanoSystems, and Prof Dan Peer, Director of the Laboratory of Precision Nanomedicine at Tel Aviv University. Dan shares how his team has developed siRNA LNPs to deliver treatment more efficiently for ovarian cancer patients. From Dan's unique perspective, learn why this technology is cutting-edge, and why it may help defeat one of mankind’s biggest enemies— cancer.

Through a discussion of combination therapies, Dodi and Conor delve into the mysterious power of the human microbiome, and antimicrobial resistance. With evidence of the microbiome being a key factor in fighting diseases, this episode highlights the importance of understanding and treating the microbiome and its potential to improve lives. Tune in to find out more and explore the possibilities of the microbiome with Dr Saman Maleki, and the power of serendipity with Prof Pete Dedon!

In this episode, we dive into the potential of liquid biopsies as a method to detect deadly diseases. We speak with three experts – Marta Herreros, Rik Bryan, and Doug Ward – to learn more about the non-invasive nature of liquid biopsies and the process of detecting biomarkers within a patient sample. Rik and Doug discuss their GALEAS Bladder test, which can identify key mutations present in 96% of bladder cancer patients. Tune in to learn more about the potential of liquid biopsies and the importance of early detection!

Why do China and US have different government regulations? Why can’t we do business above the fray?

These are just some of the struggles biopharma executives report impacting their business. Our guests are of the same view – the industry needs fixing.

Yingke He, CEO and Co-Founder of Forecyte Bio, explains how China's industrialized experience is limited and in its early stages compared to the US.

Listen to this episode to understand the industry tensions and areas showing promise.

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we explore the incredible advances in precision medicine enabled by organoid technology. Vicky Marsh Durban and Oksana Sirenko contribute to the conversation, talking about how machine learning and robotics are used to scale up organoid culture and analyse data, as well as the potential of organoids to revolutionise regenerative medicine. Listen to this episode for an insightful and informative deep dive into the potential of organoids for transforming the face of modern medicine.

War! What is it good for? In this episode of Discovery Matters, Dr Smith explains how military medicine first shaped state medicine and how wartime creates an opportunity to innovate. From advances in prosthetics, psychology, and cosmetic surgery to the mass production of penicillin during World War II, this episode dives deep into the life-saving innovations brought over the line due to conflicts.

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John Morris, a scientist at the forefront of cryopreservation technology, joins Dodi and Conor. They discuss the impact of cryopreservation on the development of CAR T therapies, why freezing cells is essential to these treatments, how tracking the samples ensures quality, and the potential for frozen cells to treat solid tumors in the future. Tune in to find out how cryopreservation has transformed the life sciences and how it could revolutionize how we treat disease in the future.

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Conor and Dodi explore the new and exciting world of bacteriophage therapy. Join them as they speak to Anton Peleg, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology and the Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University, about this emerging field. Together they discuss how phages, viruses that specifically target bacteria, are being used to fight against antibiotic-resistant superbugs and the challenges of producing them at scale and getting them approved by regulatory bodies.

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In the latest episode of Discovery Matters, Dodi and Conor are joined by Dr. Bradley Moore from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to discuss his research into the medical and synthetic implications of using marine microbes to fight aggressive cancers such as glioblastoma. By leveraging salinosporamide A, Dr. Moore proposes that these deep-sea organisms could potentially be scaled up for human use and repurposed for medicinal and synthetic purposes. Dive into this episode to hear how the ocean has the power to bring forth new discoveries that could save lives!

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We should not underestimate cells. Conor and Dodi talk with Dr Brett Kagan, who conducted research to understand the brain and test ‘sentient’ brain cells, using the 1970s game, known as ‘Pong’. In another conversation, Professor Petra Levin and Kunaal Joshi explain how they have demonstrated that there is no mythical ‘average’ cell which mimics the stochastic behaviors of any individual cell.

At the end of this episode, we hope to have proven that cells are not to be overlooked and still have so much to tell us about human health.

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What do CRISPR and longevity have in common? Not much, except it's all molecular.

We spoke to two different CEOs focused on improving human health. We begin with Dr Benjamin Oakes, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics, who takes us through the discovery, potential, and possible limitations of CRISPR.

Then we are joined by fellow visionary Kristen Fortney, the CEO and co-founder of BioAge, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies that treat disease by targeting the biology of ageing.

You cannot miss these fascinating conversations.

Psychedelic treatment is a therapy which is on the rise according to the increasing number of studies on the use of psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA to treat mental health disorders such as PTSD. In this episode, Conor talks to Prof. Eric Vermetten, a psychiatrist who has been working with the military in the Netherlands for the last 25 years, helping Dutch armed forces and the uniformed people in the face of PTSD and psychotraumatology.

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Conor and Dodi try their hand at learning to operate an ÄKTA ready in virtual reality. Their virtual journey takes them to Singapore and Miami, without leaving Sweden, Amersham, and Edinburgh. Join us on a journey into the metaverse.

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For more info on using virtual reality for customers: cytiva.com/vr

Mushrooms on Mars, life-saving blood from worms, cell-cultured seafood. It's been a year filled with surprise, serendipity, and everything in between. Conor, Dodi and the podcast team look back on a fascinating year and highlight their favourite interviews and topics of the year. 

See you in the new year!

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This episode focuses on the microbiome and how it is increasingly linked to disease and illness. It seems this is true for understanding the illness of the body and the brain. Dr Amir Minerbi, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam Medical Center, talks to us about how the microbiome may hold the secrets of fibromyalgia. This chronic disorder causes widespread pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and potentially dozens of other symptoms.

We are also joined by Prof Illana Gozes, Director of Elton Laboratory for Molecular Neuroendocrinology in the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. She elaborates on her research surrounding the role of specific microbiota signatures as a biomarker for PTSD.

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Today, we sat down with Christos Michas, R&D scientist and engineer at Curi Bio, and Alice White, professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University. Christos and Alice have taken the organ on a chip to another level with the miniPUMP, a heart on a chip which is the first step in understanding the interaction of therapeutic drugs with the heart.

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In this first in a two-part series on organ on a chip technology, we discuss with Jan Turner, formerly part of Safer Medicines Trust, how these organoids can help us move away from the inefficient animal model.

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We have lots of information at our fingertips, so how do we make sense of it all, especially in human health? Conor and Dodi speak to two experts making sense of this information overload by creating genetic and genomic databases. 

Dr Artem Babaian, a computational biologist and now Assistant Professor leading The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms at the University of Toronto, explains how he and his team uncovered 100,000 novel viruses in old genetic data that could help us predict future pandemics.

Professor Jinchuan Xing, Associate Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Genetics conducting research on genomic variation, walks us through his study on using genomic data to predict infertility from aneuploid egg production.

Let's dive into the data!

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Within the life sciences industry, there has been a longstanding conversation around one of the industry’s most difficult challenges. That challenge is talent. In more detail, it is that the access to a global talent pool remains difficult. In this longer than usual conversation, Conor and Dodi speak with Darrin Morrissey, CEO of NIBRT, Anne-Cecile Potmans, general manager of Fast Trak and CDMO services at Cytiva, and Nikki Soares, global talent acquisition leader at Cytiva.

We discuss how the industry is stepping up its resilience for customers and patients. To find, train, retrain, and retain talent is what matters in this episode of Discovery Matters.

Plastic and pollution are two issues that impact our planet. It would be easy to despair but once again biology has come to save us. The Alper Lab at University of Texas at Austin has engineered a plastic-eating enzyme which can shorten plastic degradation from hundreds of years to 48 hours.

We speak to Dr Hal Alper, Professor in Chemical Engineering at UT at Austin, who engineered this heroic enzyme.

We also speak to Marco Poletto, director and co-founder of EcoLogic studio, which is a design innovation company specializing in biotechnology for the built environment. He explains his use of microalgae to create streetlights, playgrounds, and biofilms on the outside of buildings which can capture 20 large trees worth of CO2 every day.

Show notes

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a relatively new approach to determine the viral make up in any given area. Using chemical analysis of pollutants and biomarkers in raw wastewater, the level of exposure to certain pathogens can be assessed. This technique was used during the pandemic, which has helped realize its potential in public healthcare policy.

We speak to Prof. Dominic Frigon, a specialist of biological wastewater resource recovery at McGill University, who used this technique in Quebec through the pandemic to determine areas of vulnerability, including a homeless shelter. We also speak to Dr Kata Farkas, an environmental virologist at Bangor University, to understand the wider applications and importance of this analysis technique.

Urine for a treat with this conversation.

This episode is all about special blood and transplants. We speak to Jon Adkins, co-founder of XenoTherapeutics, who walks us through their use of xenotransplantation for skin grafts and organ transplantation. We are also joined by Dr. Franck Zal, a marine biologist, CSO and CEO of Hemarina, to discuss the lugworm. His discovery, that the lugworms’ blood is compatible with human blood, means it can be used in medical applications for transplants.

Join us for this eye-opening and insightful conversation.

In this episode, we contemplate the combatting the devastating disease that Alzheimer’s is. According to a recent report by the Alzheimer’s Disease International, an estimated 50 million people are living with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. We talk to two experts leading two respective early-stage studies into possible treatments for Alzhemier’s. One study looks at the tackling of tau proteins, another looks at treating aging rather than the disease itself.

Join us for this fascinating discussion!

The pandemic has been a global issue, which has benefitted from the coming together of industry, pharma, academia, non-governmental and governmental support. What the pandemic has also brought into sharp focus is the global imbalance access to healthcare and health inequity between the Global North and Global South.

For this important conversation, we are joined by Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation about the current situation with HIV and TB in Africa, and the impact COVID-19 has had on patients already suffering from communicable diseases.

So, what can we do? Lenias Hwenda, founder and CEO of Medicines for Africa, explains the additional problems of access to medicines and potential solutions for global vaccine inequity, working to make medicines as inexpensive as possible, and improving the supply chain.

We know meat is problematic for the environment, and seafood has its own issues with overfishing, so do we have to wave goodbye to the foods we love?

Well, what if we told you that there are substitutes which you can enjoy without sacrificing taste and texture?

Meet Discovery Maker Mustapha Bittaye, now a senior scientist working on diagnostic assay development at Medicines Discovery Catapult, who previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Jenner Institute helping create the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Born in The Gambia, a scholarship took Mustapha to the UK to study Microbial Proteomics, and from then onwards he has made truly amazing contributions to human health globally.

Conor and Dodi examine Mustapha’s story, truly brilliant mind, and how he is looking to the future. 

What better way to start off 2022 than with a return to our Discovery Makers series. We celebrate discovery by talking to the scientists changing the world one day at a time. This time we are joined by Sebastian Falk.

As 2022 rolls around the corner, we look back on the amazing topics we covered in 2021. Conor and Dodi were set an assignment to choose their favorite episode of the year, but as this was such a jam-packed year it made it very hard for them to complete their assignment. But as in all things, they delivered.

From fungi forays to an eye-opening conversation with Dr Joan Reede, President of the BSCP, Dodi and Conor discuss the best moments of the year, with a little input from the production team. Our podcast planner intern, Bethany shares her favorite episode, as does Thomas Henley our podcast editor and sound designer.

Stay to the end for a little surprise from us to you for the holiday season…

For this episode of Discovery Matters we are focusing on industry surveys and what they can tell us. This includes BioPlan and the Biopharma Resilience Index. Both huge reports providing insight into both the issues and opportunities facing the industry today.

Firman Ghouze, Cytiva’s Marketing Director in APAC, explains how the Biopharma Resilience Index came about, the industry issues it uncovers and potential solutions. We are also joined by Eric Langer, from BioPlan Associates, to discuss the BioPlan findings and how they echo many of the same themes. Finally, it was a delight to talk to Dr. Richard Wang, the founder and CEO of Neukio Biotherapeutics, who shares his insights as an industry leader.

This episode is an informative and accessible discussion on the state of the biopharma industry today. We discuss ways to tackle the most pressing challenges and how, if possible, we can best plan for the future.

We talk a lot about beginnings on Discovery Matters, but what about actually getting biologic drugs to people? Once the biologic is produced, aseptic filling and hybrid glass and plastic vials help to protect the biologic drug and the patient.

Who (in the scientific community) would have guessed that mRNA would be such a popular word in everyone's vocabulary one day? Well, as Conor puts it, "all the research by the people on the edges of the scientific community for the past 20 years are really paying dividends."

Join Dodi, Conor, and their guests, Clive Glover the General Manager of Gene Therapy at Pall and James Taylor General Manager in Vancouver for Precision NanoSystems, in the latest episode of Discovery Matters, talking about mRNA revolutionizing the genomics field.

How do you solve linked murders without witnesses? The answer, DNA. 

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we have been inspired by the true crime genre. We discuss a 32-year-old cold case which was the first to be solved with DNA profiling, and a murder in Las Vegas that was solved with the smallest amount of DNA ever! 

Join Dodi and Conor, and guest Kathryn Lamerton a former forensic scientist currently a Senior R&D Scientist at Cytiva, with a re-enactment helped by some of our colleagues at Cytiva for this exciting episode of Discovery Matters.