Science is Fun!

“Science is fun!” is a podcast about the trials and tribulations of famous scientists and rising stars. We dig deep into the backstories behind the science, explain how the big discoveries were made, and discuss how you too can participate in the next big step forward.

How genes get turned off 03/17/2024

How genes get turned off Today I'm joined by another floor-mate of mine at UCSF, Bassem Al-Sady. Bassem's lab does beautiful and elegant work on how genes are silenced in cells ranging from yeast to stem cells. He explains all the mysteries that remain about this fundamental process and that aspects of it date back to the earliest types of cells. We also talk about his innovative teaching efforts and how to improve graduate education. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/29376238

What boxing teaches us about autoimmunity 03/03/2024

What boxing teaches us about autoimmunity This week I'm so thrilled to interview Dr. Stephen Hauser, author of "The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries." He discusses a remarkable career as a physician-scientist, in which he uncovered a key role for B cells in the debilitating autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. More remarkably, his perseverance led to the transformative drugs that are now available for this disease, emphasizing the importance of basic science for addressing long-standing healthcare challenges and the unique lens that practicing physicians can bring to biomedical research. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/29376208

Can we eat saturated fat again? 02/18/2024

Can we eat saturated fat again? This week I'm so thrilled to interview Dr. Ron Krauss. Ron has make seminal contributions to our understanding of heart disease, including early work on cholesterol and his ongoing studies of statins. He explains why human nutrition is so hard and what is needed to provide more predictive dietary guidelines. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811868

Synbio meets immunotherapy 02/04/2024

Synbio meets immunotherapy Synthetic biologist Kole Roybal joins us today. Kole is a leader in the emerging area of cell therapy, and has developed sophisticated ways of controlling immune cells for the treatment of cancer. He explains what led to these very recent breakthroughs and what he's excited about next. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811748

Finding the AIDS virus 01/21/2024

Finding the AIDS virus This week I'm joined by Jay Levy, a world expert in HIV. Jay was one of the first people to isolate the virus and had made numerous contributions to our understanding of HIV and AIDS. He walks us through this fascinating history and the current challenges in this area. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811718

Natural born killers 01/07/2024

Natural born killers I'm thrilled to interview Lewis Lanier this week, who recently stepped down as my department chair. Lewis has had a remarkable career in science and industry, including the early days of flow cytometry and the discovery of a new type of immune cell dubbed the "natural killer cell". He explains how these NK cells were found and why they're so unique and fascinating. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811658

Placentas are amazing 12/17/2023

Placentas are amazing This week my guest is Dr. Susan Fisher, a world renowned expert in the placenta. She explains how truly remarkable the placenta is and how it overturns a lot of what we normally assume about the body. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811583

The bacterial cell whisperer 12/03/2023

The bacterial cell whisperer I'm am so excited to welcome Dr. Shaeri Mukherjee to the show. Shaeri is my next-door neighbor at UCSF and has been dubbed the "bacteria whisperer". Her lab uses bacteria as tools to uncover fundamental insights into cell biology. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/28811513

Filming a movie using CRISPR technology 02/10/2023

Filming a movie using CRISPR technology We’re back this week with and the University of California, San Francisco. Seth has built molecular recording devices that can record data within living cells. He even used these methods to re-create one of the first movies put to film. This work has clear technological implications and is also providing insights into phage biology. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/25525710

Who needs a biochemist when you have tiny beads? 01/27/2023

Who needs a biochemist when you have tiny beads? We’re back this week with Polly is an Assistant Professor of Genetics and Bioengineering at Stanford. She has built remarkable tools for studying transcription factors and enzymes, really accelerating what is possible and opening up new areas of study. She explains why hydrogels are so cool and how you too can use them in your research program. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/25525578

Fruit flies love the metaverse 01/13/2023

Fruit flies love the metaverse Science is Fun is finally back after a long hiatus. Where have we been? I’ve been doing science now that the pandemic slow-down has lifted. So much science to do, so little time! I’ve got an exciting line-up for the next few weeks - a mini-season of shows. I hope you enjoy it and stay subscribed to the show for when our next full season launches. This week I welcome to the show. Yvette is a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley. She does wild experiments, including putting fruit flies into virtual reality simulations to study how their brains work. I hope you’ll enjoy our chat as much as I did! /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/25525551

Don't Panic! How to live with COVID-19 09/26/2021

Don't Panic! How to live with COVID-19 I'm am so excited to welcome Dr. Monica Gandhi to the show. Throughout the pandemic, Monica has been a source of reliable and clear headed insight, especially with regards to the importance of re-opening schools. This conversation remains timely given the increasing rate of infections and stalled vaccination effort. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/20577413

How to design a drug in an afternoon 08/22/2021

How to design a drug in an afternoon This week I chat with another talented chemist: Bill DeGrado from UCSF. Bill is a pioneer in the de novo design of proteins. He talks about how he got into this area and how it has created opportunities to treat disease. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/20158532

Enzyme spotting 08/15/2021

Enzyme spotting This week I'm joined by Charly Craik, a chemist at UCSF who develops sophisticated tools for studying biology. He talks about his quest to watch enzymes function in real-time in cells and even whole mice, and how his research is paving the way for new therapies for HIV, cancer, and COVID-19. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/19970519

Should scientists be politicians? 05/23/2021

Should scientists be politicians? Keith Yamamoto, the Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy at UCSF, explains why he has been committed throughout his career to reform the funding, publication, and practice of science. He also discusses his vision for the future of precision medicine and how team-based projects could accelerate scientific progress. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/19166567

Do we already know the cure for cancer? 05/09/2021

Do we already know the cure for cancer? Dr. Alan Venook is a renowned expert on gastrointestinal malignancies at UCSF. He discusses the innovative ways doctors are treating cancer, the challenges of designing clinical trials, and the future of cancer therapy. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18950231

Should biologists spend less time doing experiments? 05/02/2021

Should biologists spend less time doing experiments? KC Huang, a physicist at Stanford with one of the most eclectic research histories I've seen, patiently explains photons, the biophysics of cell shape, and why biologists should embrace theory. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18935837

What is curiosity-driven science? 04/25/2021

What is curiosity-driven science? Dr. Hiten Madhani is an expert in yeast biology, including the neglected human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Hiten's lab has made major contributions to our understanding of gene splicing, gene silencing, and quorum sensing. These eclectic areas arise organically from his group's ability to follow the data and their own curiosity, coupled to his strategy of encouraging trainees to follow their passion. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18691364

What is a nuclear lamina and why should you care? 04/18/2021

What is a nuclear lamina and why should you care? Dr. Abby Buchwalter, my former classmate from Washington University in Saint Louis, tells us why everyone should care about the nuclear lamina. She also talks about the winding path of discovery and her efforts to found the SciChats outreach program at the Salk Institute. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18613895

Can ticks teach us how to make better hand sanitizer? 04/11/2021

Can ticks teach us how to make better hand sanitizer? Dr. Seemay Chou uses ticks as a model system for host-microbial interactions. She talks about her remarkable discovery of bacteria genes that have transferred into ticks and how they serve to protect ticks from microbes found on human skin. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18613730

Can dieting help you live forever? 04/04/2021

Can dieting help you live forever? Dr. Emily Goldberg (UCSF) talks about growing up with academic parents and how she got into the rapidly growing field of immunometabolism, as well as the complex role of ketogenic diets and caloric restriction is shaping aging and susceptibility to infection. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18409646

Do microbes control our immune system? 03/28/2021

Do microbes control our immune system? My guest this week is Dr. Sarkis Mazmanian, a Professor at Cal Tech, and certified Genius by the MacArthur Foundation. Sarkis talks about how he got into microbiome research and his remarkable contributions to infectious disease, immunology, and neurology. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18387482

Why can't you understand what your Doctor is talking about? 03/21/2021

Why can't you understand what your Doctor is talking about? My first international guest, the renowned Irish microbiome researcher Fergus Shanahan, talks about his new book "The Language of Illness" and his eclectic research on the inflammatory bowel diseases (plural!), physical fitness (not exercise!), and Irish Travelers (popularized by the movie Snatch). /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/18359159

Can the cheese in your fridge get you a PhD? 02/21/2021

Can the cheese in your fridge get you a PhD? My guest this week is Dr. Rachel Dutton from UCSD who is recognized in both scientific and culinary circles for her ingenious use of cheese rinds as a model system to study microbial ecology. Learn more about what inspired her to take up this line of research and what they have learned so far. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17780732

Why COVID-19 isn’t the end of our fight against infectious disease 02/07/2021

Why COVID-19 isn’t the end of our fight against infectious disease My guest this week is Dr. Gerry Wright, a Professor at McMaster who is renowned for his efforts to understand and combat antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbes. This interview is especially timely given the ongoing pandemic and the need to invest more heavily in infectious disease research. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17780657

How to start a lab during a pandemic 01/17/2021

How to start a lab during a pandemic My guest this week is Dr. Aspen Reese, a new faculty at the University of California, San Diego. Aspen talks about the unique challenges of starting a lab during a pandemic and shares how her background in ecology and evolution has provided a unique lens to understand the human microbiome. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17482307

How to make drugs safer and combat aging 01/10/2021

How to make drugs safer and combat aging My guest this week is Dr. Garret Fitzgerald, the Director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss his current work at Calico, a Google backed company that aims to combat aging, including Garret's fascination with circadian rhythms. He also explains his key role in revealing the dangerous side effects of selective inhibitors of COX-2, leading to removing Vioxx from the market in 2004 and a black box warning on its competitor Celebrex. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17433101

Why volcanos matter for tracing outbreaks 01/03/2021

Why volcanos matter for tracing outbreaks My guest this week is Dr. Martin Blaser. I know Marty well due to his more recent work on antibiotics and their off-target impacts on the gut microbiome, described in his book "Missing Microbes". We discuss the origins of this work during his time tracking epidemics at the CDC, his love for the rare but fascinating Campylobacter fetus, and his seminal work on identifying a "symbiosis factor" for Helicobacter pylori. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17393648

Is the microbiome a viable drug target? 12/20/2020

Is the microbiome a viable drug target? My guest this week is Dr. Matt Redinbo from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Matt has had a remarkable career in both academia and industry. He discusses the challenges of translating basic research and the importance of doing the killer experiment as soon as possible. We talk about his evolution from focusing solely on human enzymes for drug metabolism to studying microbes, and the vast potential for the microbiome as a novel drug target. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17053412

Why is dieting so hard? 12/13/2020

Why is dieting so hard? This week I'm joined by my friend and collaborator Dr. Suneil Koliwad, the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at UCSF. Suneil discusses how the pandemic has changed medicine, the perplexing differences between ethnic groups in metabolic disease, and his research on the complex links between diet, inflammation, and obesity. /episode/index/show/scienceisfuncast/id/17012189

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