Episode 247 | The Best Laid Plans

Doing the big work to keep Gaelic alive!

If you're interested in helping the people of West Virginia recover from some pretty horrific recent flooding, you can check out the list of options compiled by The Huffington Post. 

00:00:00 - Patrick and Ryan are joined by Daphne Pringle, who's a post-doctoral fellow at the Hunstman Cancer Institute of the University of Utah. She's sick of us getting epigenetics wrong like we did in episode 241, so she's here to sort us out. She uses mice to study oncogenes and tumors and cancer and all that. It's pretty far outside of our typical biology talk, so segment one is just trying to explain the basics. Here's some background reading: Raf/MEK/ERK, mouse models, and BRAF targeting. 

00:35:53 - Alcohol is a carcinogen probably. Oh well. Daphne represents Utah with her Uinta Detour Double IPA. Patrick was sent some cans of Elevated IPA by listener Matty J. Thanks! And Ryan classes up the joint with an Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon. 

00:43:21 - Now that we have totally covered the basics of Daphne's research, let's talk about her recent publication in PLOS ONE. Will Daphne and her team cure cancer? Only if they can get through the FDA's 15 year approval process! Also, if you wanted to see a Tazzy Devil joey in a pouch, here you go. 

01:16:43 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like the FDA approval process; only the strong survive. First up, a new recurring donation from Mark H. Thanks, Mark! Next, Peter C. has a question about population genetics that we're hoping Daphne can help us answer. It involves space travel and maybe racism? Patrick presents a Facebook post from Brennen M. who wants us to know about his favorite book about food science called Modernist Cuisine. Finally, Ryan presents the winners of the iTunes review contest calculated using random.org! The runners up: Kendh and Patrick in Des Moines. And our grand prize goes to Molec-bio! Thanks to everyone who participated. Be sure to follow Daphne on Twitter (@drpringleetal) to follow along as she saves us all. 

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music used in this week's show:

Morning New Disease - Jets to Brazil
The West Virginia Hills - Moastsville String Ticklers
Waiting - Green Day

Image Credit: The Keep Calm-o-Matic