Science Interviews

Planet Earth - Anti-Venom Medications

Looking at ways to reduce the cost of anti-venom...Robert Harrison, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

How the Brain Detects Diet

Denis Burdakov explains what happens when you have food on the brain...Dr Denis Burdakov, Cambridge University

Synaesthesia, Antibiotic Resistance and Snake Venom

Dao Nguyen, McGill University; Devin Terhune, University of Oxford; David Julius, UCSF

The Power of Pandemics - The truth behind contagion

Ian Lipkin discusses the science behind the film Contagion which depicts the series of events that unfold with the outbreak of a new strain of flu... Ian Lipkin, University of Columbia

Jersey's Neanderthals - Planet Earth Online

Richard Hollingham visits St. Brelade in Jersey to talk to a team of archaeologists who’re reappraising the caves to learn more about the Islands Neanderthal history...Matt Pope, University College London

Flu vaccines from tabacco plants

A new biotechnology company called Medicago have developed a technique for quickly and cheaply producing vaccines using tobacco plants. Genes from the flu virus are added to the plants using a bacterial Trojan horse and Professor Brian Ward from McGill University is the medical officer for Medicago and he told me how it works.......Professor Brian Ward from McGill University

Flu Survey - Tracking Influenza Across a Continent

As we enter “flu season” in the northern hemisphere, to help track the spread of seasonal flu here in the UK and throughout Europe, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have launched an initiative called “flu survey”. We spoke to Professor John Edmunds to find out more... Professor John Edmunds , the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Influenza virus and heart attacks

Looking at whether flu can trigger heart attacks in vulnerable peopleDr. Charlotte Warren-Gash from University College London

Malaria Vaccines, Looking but Seeing and Nanoscale Electric Cars!

A new target for Malaria vaccines, How seeing and paying attention to things uses separate parts of the brain and the world's smallest electric car...Julian Rayner, Sanger Institute; Masataka Watanabe, University of Tokyo; Paul Weiss UCLA; Karen Williams, Staunton-on-Wye Endowed Primary School

Deep sea angler fish - queens of the glowing depths

With parasitic males and glowing lures to catch their dinner, female angler fish are the undisputed queens of the deep.

How glowing jellyfish revolutionsied science

The jellyfish that made rabbits glow green and revolutionised science features in our list of the top 5 ocean light-makers

How bobtail squid vanish before your eyes

In our rundown of top ocean light-makers, the cute bobtail makes an appearance before disappearing before your very eyes.

Seashells that glow like lightbulbs

Another of our top ocean light-makers is the clusterwink snail that glows like a light bulb to scare off predators.

Glowing seas spotted from space

A surreal nighttime phenomenon that's puzzled mariners for centuries was recently spotted from space.

Critter of the month - killer whale

Underwater photographer Brian Skerry picks an intelligent ocean hunter for his critter of the month.Brian Skerry

The science of ocean bioluminescence

Bioluminescence expert, Dr Edith Widder, introduces the spectacular light displays of the ocean.Edith Widder, Ocean Conservation and Research Association

New Targets for Cancer Drugs

Madhusudan Srinivasan discusses a new target for cancer drugs - blocking the repair of DNA...Madhusudan Srinivasan, University of Nottingham

Imaging Cancer

The science surrounding cancer is multifaceted. It involves clinicians, chemists, geneticists, and even physicists. The essential work of developing new treatments and clinical approaches is backed up by developments in imaging technology that allow us to detect and observe tumours with ever increasing fidelity...Professor Martin Leach, Co-director of the CRUK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre

The Stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet - Planet Earth Online

How stable is the West Antarctic ice sheet. It’s one of the biggest questions in Climate Science. After all, if the ice itself melted then global sea levels could rise by between 3 and 5 metres, and that would be a catastrophe. To work out how stable the ice sheet has been in the past, scientists at the University of Exeter has been using a process known as cosmogenic isotope dating....Chris Fogwell, University of Exeter

Ras, Raf, Mek, Erk: cell signalling and the future for cancer treatment?

Professor Chris Marshall discusses research on the Ras pathway and his hopes for personalised medicine making it to the cancer clinic in the next decade.Professor Chris Marshall from the Institute for Cancer Research in London