Finding Genius Podcast

Dr. Annila, biophysics professor, explores the time and space relationship in this podcast. When you listen, you'll hear him discuss: Why he thinks Darwin's theory of natural selection can be approached through physics. How questions we ask about aspects of human existence change if we consider that everything is quanta (photons). If everything is about motion, we can approach life and non-living factors the same way. Early in his days as a new professor of biophysics, Dr. Annila of the University of Helsinki asked why there was no equation for evolution yet. After all, life is all about motion. That question took him on this voyage he explores in his book and in his research. He looks at the theory of evolution in terms of physics. For example, he explains the time and space relationship like this: losing heat takes place over time. Photons that we lose as we cool off are not only carrying energy but also time. This means energy is carried over a period of time: energy and time go hand in hand and this can be a mathematical formula. Why? Because photons have a wavelength. A wavelength divided by the speed of light equals time. This makes time a concreate concept rather than an abstract. He continues to explain that it is a contrived idea that evolution should be limited to animals and explains that there's nothing special in life versus nonlife according to his theories. Finally, this understanding changes how we approach many aspects of human existence. An understanding of everything as photons opens up a new understanding of all matter. For more, see his university home page: https://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/aannila/arto/index

Dr. Robin Smith, Lecturer in Physics at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, delivers an insightful overview of his work in nuclear physics research topics and experiments in nuclear physics. Dr. Smith earned his Ph.D. in nuclear physics at the University of Birmingham under the guidance of Dr. C. Wheldon and Prof. M. Freer. He is a distinguished lecturer in physics and specializes in multiple fields, including the following: nuclear data, nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, radiation detection, atomic nuclei and more. Dr. Smith talks about nuclear physics and general physics and how he came to his areas of specialty. As he explains, he undertook projects in his senior year at university that involved smashing nuclei, which really got his interest moving in the direction of nuclear physics. Dr. Smith explains why he studies the atomic nucleus in detail, discussing the building blocks—atoms, and historical perspectives on the atom. He explains the atom's structure and the density of the atomic nucleus, citing examples for comparison. Dr. Smith goes on to explain that in nature we have four fundamental forces that govern all matter within the universe—gravity, the electromagnetic force, the weak force, and the strong force. Dr. Smith details how these forces work, discussing gravity and its effects and the binding structures. The nuclear physics expert discusses quantum mechanics, and how it is derived from the Schrödinger equation, which is a linear partial differential equation that precisely describes the general wave function, or state function, etc., of a quantum-mechanical system. Continuing, Dr. Smith discusses stars in our galaxy, the heavy elements, and the forces that exist, detailing how his research relates. He discusses carbon and excited states within nuclei and some of the theories that exist regarding molecules and molecular physics in general. As Dr. Smith extends his discussion, he explains some of the methods they use to gather their scientific data. He explains how they study energies and what the data reveals in regard to decay processes. Regarding his research in colliding, Dr. Smith states that decay behavior, specifically regarding carbon-12, the most common of all-natural carbon isotopes, does appear to change dependent upon what projectile is being fired at the carbon-12. In essence, the environment does appear to affect the outcome of the reaction. Wrapping up, Dr. Smith discusses the work and theories of Sir Fred Hoyle, the English astronomer who famously formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. In this podcast: What exactly is quantum mechanics? An overview of the atomic nucleus What are the forces that exist in our galaxy?

Anita Öst, Medical Faculty at Linköping University, provides an overview of the current state of epigenetics research as she discusses epigenetic inheritance in humans. Anita seeks to understand and thereby manipulate epigenetic metabolic programs that are set up by parental cues as well as early life events in an effort to design new treatments for obesity and obesity-related diseases, etc. Anita discusses the concept of epigenetics, which is the study of changes in organisms that can be caused by a modification of gene expression, as opposed to an alteration of the genetic code. She details the specific area of epigenetics she focuses on, which looks at how offspring will inherit information or change their phenotype based on their parents' environment, or stress. She explains why starvation or stress may lead to changes, and talks in depth about experiments with fruit flies that provided further information on theories related to epigenetic inheritance. She discusses how weight affects flies, and how they look at fat by observing and measuring their triglycerides. And the research scientist explains what they learned by experimenting with weight gain in the test subjects and how that impacts offspring. Continuing, the Linköping University researcher talks about experiments they performed with humans related to diet and sugar intake. She discusses their results, and how it affected sperm motility. Wrapping up, the researcher explains how these dietary and other effects have impacted their research and their considerations for other experimentation. In this podcast: Can diet affect sperm motility? What can we learn from epigenetics? How offspring inherit information or change phenotype based on parents' environment

Michael D. West, PhD, founder and CEO of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (agexinc.com), delivers an insightful overview of the effects of aging and the cellular aging mechanism. Dr. West received his PhD from Baylor College of Medicine with a concentration in the biology of cellular aging. He has spent the better part of his academic and business career focused on the application of developmental biology to various age-related degenerative diseases. Dr. West discusses the premise of his company, AgeX Therapeutics. As he explains, aging is a national and international priority. He explains how the post WWII population surge has made chronic degenerative diseases a major focus. And the goal at AgeX Therapeutics is to develop new and innovative therapies to combat these chronic degenerative diseases. AgeX Therapeutics is interested in the development and commercialization of unique therapeutics that will target human aging issues. Working forward from their current proprietary technologies, such as PureStem® and induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR™), Age X Therapeutics seeks to further develop innovative medicines that can have a significant positive impact on the many and various unsolved problems in aging. Dr. West talks about aging in detail, framing his conversation upon the current information that exists regarding various diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes, etc. He states that as they study the basic clockwork elements that lead to aging in the brain, skin, lungs, etc., they then apply this information and research to the unmet needs in medicine. Dr. West goes on to explain telomerase, an important enzyme that adds nucleotides to telomeres, most especially in cancer cells. He explains how telomerase resets the clock. Further, he talks about some of the information they learned from cloning experiments. The evidence, he states, suggests that by putting an aged cell back into an egg cell, the aging process could be set in reverse. And today, after further experimentation, researchers know this to be true. Telomerase can in fact rewind the clock of cellular aging. The aging researcher explains how the aging process is the same throughout the body, which is encouraging because having a common mechanism makes the outlook for discovery of treatment and therapies better. Continuing, Dr. West explains how change is observed, discussing the science of aging, and he states that changes seem to be systemic thus far in current experimentation with animals. In this podcast: New chronic degenerative disease therapies How can telomerase reset the clock? Can aging be reversed at the cellular level?

It's a belief that can be traced to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians: the gut is the seat of emotion. Until recently, however, this idea hasn't been given much attention in the world of modern science and research. On today's podcast, gastroenterologist, author of over 320 peer-reviewed articles, and professor of physiology at the UCLA Microbiome Center, Dr. Emeran Mayer, gives us a look into his current work on understanding how the microbiome lends itself to brain-gut interactions, influences emotion, and even paves the way for the development of obesity. Tune in for the details on all this and more, including: How microbes might synthesize serotonin, and what effect serotonin might have on microbial behavior and gene expression What causes us to feel "full" or reach satiety while eating, and how microbes may influence the mechanism of satiety What Dr. Mayer believes will happen in the world of microbiome research and applications within the next 10 years How Dr. Mayer's current research seeks to bridge the gap between the findings in mouse studies and human studies on the microbiome, digestive diseases, and the gut-brain interaction For more information on these topics, visit https://emeranmayer.com/.

In this podcast, Dr. Jose Colon explains The different types of sleep interferences we may face. The efficacy of home-sleep studies versus sleep facility studies. Short and long-term sleep health benefits like significant concentration improvement. Triple board-certified author Dr. Jose Colon brings his expertise to this podcast by addressing many common questions about the current state of sleep science. He describes different types of sleep disorders treatment from C-Pap machines to oral devices and when one may be more beneficial than another. Dr. Colon practices full time sleep medicine for adults and children, incorporating a holistic outlook that includes mindfulness and science-driven approaches. In an effort to bring his ideas together, he wrote Sleep Diet: A Novel Approach to Insomnia for adults and The Magic Ice Cream Palace for kids, both of which are more creative approaches to the issue rather than to-do lists. He explains some of the most common sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia to less common but equally harmful disorders that disturb our sleep health benefits. He then weighs the plus and minus for different sleep disorders treatments and even describes his own experience with an oral appliance to improve sleep quality. Dr. Colon also points to upcoming advances in improving sleep health benefits such as comfort level improvements of C-Pap machines and an implant in the works. For any next steps, he recommends reaching out to your primary care physician but also a search for a locally accredited sleep center.

In today's episode, Dr. Stasha Gominak discusses the gut microbiome, the benefits of vitamin D in terms of the microbiome, the importance of B vitamins, and how the microbiome affects sleep in general. As a neurologist with restless leg syndrome, Dr. Gominak has interesting insight on what it feels like to experience involuntary movements that interrupt sleep, and how vitamins influence sleep in general. She discusses the importance of the four main species that live in the human GI tract, and how they are affected by insufficient levels of vitamin D. She also explains why she considers the microbiome to be its own organ, and how to restore it once it's been damaged or depleted. Dr. Gominak is a wealth of knowledge on these topics. Tune in for the details on all of this and more, including: Whether or not B vitamins are coming from the microbiome What is at play in the development of autoimmune diseases Why B100 and Vitamin D may help to resolve ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease Why Dr. Gominak believes probiotics are a complete waste of time How vitamin D affects the thyroid Learn more about Dr. Gominak's work by visiting https://drgominak.com/.

Historically, researchers have performed clinical research studies exclusively on males. Dr. Nichole explains: Why this was the case and how this led to less effective medicine and treatment. What are laws and measures the medical community has taken to correct this off balance look at gender in health care. Why it is important to consider sex and gender identification as well as race to achieve health equity. Dr. Nicole Catherine Woitowich, Associate Director of Women's Health Institute Research at Northwestern University, discusses the issues using male-dominated research groups created in our present medical treatments. Because women's hormones fluctuate monthly and have the potential to become pregnant, they were left out of clinical research studies as a protective measure. But this has led to a misunderstanding of how many medicines truly function for different sexes and genders. For example, Ambien metabolizes differently for men versus women. She discusses difficulties such as the ethics issues with randomized clinical trials for pregnant women, but also suggests solutions such as pregnant women who must take medicines for health reasons becoming involved in a system of self-reporting reactions. The National Health Institute passed a mandate in 1993 and again a broader one in 2015 to try and correct these measures and transform the disregard for gender in healthcare. Dr. Woitowich talks about how this might change some practices and the hope form more changes to insure health equity across the board, including gender nonconforming , transgender, and nonbinary patients as well. For more, see the Women's Health Institute page at https://www.womenshealth.northwestern.edu/ Dr. Wotowich can be found on Twitter @NikiWoitowich and her email address is nicole.woitowich@northwestern.edu

OpGen uses genomics and informatics to improve management of patient infections by detecting antibiotic-resistant microbes. Mr. Jones describes How they do this by identifying the DNA of bacteria within hours rather than the days current tests take, and with more effective pathogen detection. Why this polymerase chain reaction test is able to be specific in recognizing the actual pathogen. What medicine this technology is specially designed for such as urinary tract infection antibiotics. If a patient comes to the hospital with urosepsis from ineffective treatment, they don't have days to wait for information. OpGen's genomics testing and data from informatics will deliver accurate pathogen detection within hours, giving doctors the correct urinary tract infection antibiotics. Furthermore, the over use of antibiotics puts doctors in a difficult position of most likely under or over prescribing for patients when they won't know for days exactly what pathogen their patient is facing. This doesn't work for superinfections or broadly resistant pathogens. OpGen's genomics testing gives caregivers answers within hours to help the correct course of treatment through effective pathogen detection. In addition to urinary tract infection antibiotics identification, they are also developing equivalent systems for respiratory tract infections. Mr. Jones expects this technology will be cleared for use in our medical system by the end of 2020. For more, see their website at opgen.com and follow them on twitter: @OpGen

After Dinesh Thankur discovered the failings of a generic drug manufacturer in India, he's been on a campaign for change. When you listen to this discussion, you'll learn Why overseas drug companies are able to get away with producing these spurious drugs. How the middle player in the United States generic drug market, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager, keeps the harmful system in play, dodging pharmaceutical quality assurance. What steps you can take to make small yet significant changes in our policy that might prevent these fraudulent practices. A pharmaceutical expert, Mr. Thakur discovered a company in India that hired him was falsifying data and practicing substandard manufacturing techniques with generic drugs. He left the company and helped the US FDA put the company through criminal prosecution. In this podcast, he discusses these efforts and other problems with the lack of oversight for pharmaceutical quality assurance of generic drugs produced overseas. Featured in the book Bottle of Lies by journalist Katherine Eban, Mr. Thakur has continued his activism within the current generic drug consumption in the U.S. He discusses the holes in the system, such as difficulties in inspecting an overseas manufacturer, and how the lack of power Medicaid holds in negotiating drug prices produces further roadblocks. He offers some tenable actions the average citizen can make to prevent the manufacture of these spurious drugs and shares his expertise on how small changes could improve the potentially dangerous generic drugs in our market. For more about Dinesh Thakur and his contact information, see https://dineshthakur.com/.