About this podcast
Ever wondered how technology start-ups, well, start-up? For most founder entrepreneurs, it is the biggest experiment they'll ever run. Like most experiments, the result isn't known beforehand and it often doesn't work first time. On a bigger scale, how do big tech companies turn innovative science into profit?
Mark Davison interviews founder scientists, executives, investors, communicators, and others in the technology start-up and corporate science ecosystems.
Learn how great ideas turned into thriving businesses (or not) from those who made it happen (or didn't). Get business tips, lessons learned, and life lessons straight from the people who know.
Inspiring, disastrous, funny: hear what life in a science-driven company is really like.
Straight-talking, no nonsense, but conversational style. All technical content is explained for the non-specialist - you don't need a PhD or fluency in jargon and technobabble.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 27 episodes
- Tim Corcoran: Cosmetics from Cyanobacteria · 34 minIs the answer to sustainable chemical manufacturing floating in our oceans? Ocean cyanobacteria, like plants, use sunlight as power to help them make complex chemicals…
- From Jellyfish to Wound Healing with Dr Andrew Mearns-Spragg · 38 min · Episode 25What if the solution to chronic wound healing has been floating in our oceans for 600 million years? Jellyfish collagen isn't just different from the cow and pig-derived…
- Jenny Barnett: New tests and drugs for schizophrenia · 39 minCan neuroscience finally catch up with the complexity of mental illness? Society faces a huge and growing burden from mental illness and impairment. Schizophrenia, for example…
- Paul Beastall: Fuelling our future planet with a zero-carbon biofuel · 35 minForget drilling—what if diesel could be grown instead? In this episode we head into the world of engineered biology with Paul Beastall, CEO of HutanBio. He explains how his team…
- Brain-on-a chip? Neurons as future biocomputers with Dr. Ewelina Kurtys · 34 min · Episode 22What if the future of computing isn’t silicon... but neurons? In this episode, we explore a radical new frontier where biology and technology come together — programming living…
- A Brain-Based Revolution in Women's Health: The Nettle Device with Emilė Radytė · 33 min · Episode 21Three-quarters of women report that menstrual symptoms impact their daily performance, yet until recently, no one had looked at the brain's role in these symptoms. In this…
- Therapeutic brain-computer-interfaces for glioblastoma, with Dr Elise Jenkins · 38 min · Episode 20Electrical monitoring and stimulation could revolutionise diagnosis and treatment for some of the most aggressive brain cancers and intractable neurological diseases. In…
- Che Connon. Lab-grown tissues in medicine, food and fashion · 43 min · Episode 19Imagine that we could make tissues indistinguishable from those produced by humans or animals, at will, and at comparable cost to the natural products. With the rate of progress…
- On the Road! A Quick Tour of Synthetic Biology · 31 min · Episode 18In this episode of The Big Experiment, we are live, recording from the Synthetic Biology UK 2024 conference hosted by the Biochemical Society, at Hinxton Hall near Cambridge…
- Transforming Cancer Care: The Fight Against Cachexia with Robin Bhattacherjee · 39 min · Episode 17Weight loss drugs are in the spotlight. Obesity is a huge and potentially profitable problem, attracting lots of scientific and medical resources. But there are circumstances…
- Revolutionising Heart Surgery with Francis White · 35 min · Episode 16Heart valve surgery is one of the most complex procedures in medicine. Francis White and his company Heart Biotech Ltd are trying to change all of that, by making heart valves in…
- Ovaries, Menopause, and Genomics with Dr Stasa Stankovic · 45 min · Episode 15This episode went live on World Menopause Day. Menopause is an inevitable aspect of life for half of the global population, but one that requires far more study. New genomic…
- Hazel Jones: Enhancing Drug Discovery with 3D Genomics · 42 minWhat role does 3D genomics have in drug discovery? In this episode I am joined by Hazel Jones, CEO of Enhanc3d Genomics, to find out more about this cutting-edge technology…
- How Medicines are Developed: Mark's Quick Guide · 32 min · Episode 13What does it take to get a new drug to market? I have been involved in the drug industry for 35 years. I’ve worked for big pharma like GlaxoSmithkline, contract research…
- Zoe Kourtzi: Artificial intelligence and predicting dementia · 41 min · Episode 121 in 2 of us will be affected by dementia in our lives. Something so prevalent without a cure requires novel approaches for diagnosis. In this episode I am joined by Professor…
- Lily Elsner - Breaking the Taboo: Men's Fertility Testing · 48 min · Episode 11Men’s fertility is falling and fast. In the last 50 years sperm counts are down by 60%. Yet this is still a topic that no one is really talking about. My guest in this episode…
- The Ignite Program at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School · 49 min · Episode 10This edition of The Big Experiment is a little bit different to the usual format. I'm on the road visiting the famous University of Cambridge Judge Business School to talk to…
- Mike Teiler – Innovating Type 1 Diabetes Treatment · 50 min · Episode 9My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 13. Which is why this episode is very close to my heart. There are big life-altering challenges for the patient and their…
- Dr. Kärt Tomberg - Making Better Protein Drugs · 43 min · Episode 8The challenges of scientific entrepreneurship don’t end when you get funding. In fact, a whole new set of challenges arise, from finding labs, to building your team and more. In…
- Ruchi Sharma - Innovation in Stem Cells · 44 min · Episode 7Would you have the guts to pitch directly to the customer to sell your idea? You need to be prepared to hear no a lot, and learn from the experience to adapt for the next time…
