About this podcast
From healthcare and biotechnology to forests and fisheries, the evolving study of genomics is leading to some of the most exciting and world-changing discoveries in science and medicine. Like – did you know that your individual genomic signature can help determine the healthcare treatment you receive? Or that mapping the genomes of trees can inform forest management?
But while the study of genomics holds great promise for the health of people, animals, and the environment, it also confronts us with big questions: How do we study genetic patterns in a way that respects sensitive genetic information, history, and equity? How do we use the power of genomic research to fight climate change? Save the salmon?
Join Dr. Kaylee Byers – a self-described “rat detective” and science communicator as she guides you through fascinating conversations about the what, the why, and the how of genomics.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 71 episodes
- Cracking KRAS: Can We Finally Treat Pancreatic Cancer? · 34 min · Season 6 Episode 5Pancreatic cancer has notoriously been hard to detect and treat. Changes in the KRAS gene cause cells to make a protein that make pancreatic cancer grow. And that protein has…
- GENomics-AI: Are We Moving Too Fast? · 30 min · Season 6 Episode 4Artificial Intelligence has gone from science fiction to something that is almost impossible to avoid in the day-to-day. But what happens when AI intersects with our DNA? On…
- It’s Prime Time: Can New Gene Editing Technologies Re-write the Future of Health? · 33 min · Season 6 Episode 3Many rare genetic diseases are caused by a “typo” in our DNA. For most, fixing that spelling mistake has been out of reach. But a recent clinical trial has changed everything…
- Shoot Your Shot: Is Male Birth Control Finally Here? · 34 min · Season 6 Episode 2For the past 25 years, we’ve been hearing that male contraceptives are just a few years away. And then a few more… and then some more after that. So for something that has been…
- Survivor - Animal Edition: How are some species adapting to a human-altered world? · 35 min · Season 6 Episode 1If you’ve ever watched the TV show Survivor, you know the rules: outwit, outplay, outlast. But in the animal kingdom, Survivor isn’t a game– in a very real way, it’s adapt, or……
- Welcome to ‘Nice Genes!’ Season 6 · 2 min · Season 6Have you heard about the radioactive wolves in Chernobyl? Or the latest gene-editing tech that’s curing rare diseases? Or that male birth control might be on the horizon? No?!…
- Genomic Repeat: Nodding our Tusks to Heroic Mutations · 42 min · Season 5This episode was originally released on August 2, 2022 Just like any good superhero comic, we start this episode with the science going incredibly wrong. Think: vats of toxic…
- Why Orange Cats Are Orange · 6 min · Season 5Have you ever wondered why most orange cats are male? Scientists have been scratching their heads over this for decades, and now we finally have answers. In our final Gene Short…
- Genomic Repeat: Calls from the Deep - A genomic whale of a story · 53 min · Season 5This episode was originally released on November 15, 2022 Things aren’t always what they seem on the surface, especially when it comes to our oceans. So many mysteries hum below…
- Spit Happens! The History of 23andMe · 8 min · Season 5The story of 23andMe has more twists than a soap opera. Spit parties, ghosting the FDA, unicorn valuations, and massive data breaches—this company has done it all. In this Gene…
- Genomic Repeat: Slipping Through the Spectrum - Rethinking the Divide in Autism Diagnoses · 33 min · Season 5This episode was originally released on November 5, 2024 Dr. Hannah Belcher was already studying autism she found out she herself was Autistic. Getting her diagnosis felt like…
- The 200-Year Old Whale · 7 min · Season 5Bowhead whales can live for nearly 2 centuries, weigh as much as 22 elephants, and– surprisingly– rarely get cancer. So what’s their sea-cret? Sarah Lando from Genome BC brings…
- Genomic Repeat: Germ Spotting - Tracking diseases using genomics · 47 min · Season 5This episode was originally released on December 13, 2022 Stop the presses! New research shows that viruses locked in the Arctic permafrost for thousands of years have the…
- The Music That Moves Us · 43 min · Season 5 Episode 9Listening to and creating music is one of the most universal human experiences. It gets stuck in our heads, makes us cry in the car, and has the power to bring people together –…
- TB Trails and Tails · 35 min · Season 5 Episode 8Why Tuberculosis is still the most deadly infectious disease. Attention, DNA detectives! We’ve got a rat on the loose – but don’t worry, not the snitching, double-agent kind…
- Leave Us a Review · 1 min · Season 5Got a sec? Kaylee’s popping into your feed with a teensy, weensy favour to ask: if you’re a fan of the podcast, would you do us the honour of leaving Nice Genes! a review? Not…
- Menopause Mysteries · 31 min · Season 5 Episode 7Turning up the heat on a life stage science is still catching up to. Ok, most of us may have gotten “the period talk.” But the “menopause talk?” Not so much. For something that…
- Gut Check · 32 min · Season 5 Episode 6What genomics can tell us about food safety, the microbiome, and the mind. You’ve heard the saying, “you are what you eat”... Well, our gut microbes take that very literally. If…
- Bite Club · 33 min · Season 5 Episode 5How vector-borne diseases spread– and the critters that carry them Malaria, Lyme disease, dengue, Zika… what do they all have in common? They’re what we call vector-borne…
- Why Athletes Collapse · 34 min · Season 5 Episode 4The genetic clues behind sudden cardiac arrest in young individuals Every so often, we see headlines about an elite athlete collapsing mid-game. The crowd goes silent, emergency…
