Nice Genes!

Have 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?!

Well, get ready, because while we’ve been busy living our lives, genomics has been moving – fast! Things that once read like science fiction are moving on over to the non-fiction section.

This season on Nice Genes!, join Dr. Kaylee Byers as she engages in some big genomics breakthroughs – from personalized cancer treatments, to how our bodies react in space, to how animals adapt to the most extreme environments, and whether we can actually change how we age.

It’s a whole new gene-eration (if you will) of discoveries that you won’t want to miss!
New episodes every two weeks, starting September 8th. Make sure you follow Nice Genes! so you don’t miss an episode!

This 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 waste producing evil mutants that ravage the city. Or maybe not so evil. It really depends on your perspective. Just like the X-men, genetic mutations get a bad rap in the public eye. But they aren’t all nasty.

Dr. Kaylee Byers speaks with data scientist and evolutionary biologist Dr. Brian Arnold on how the genetic ‘mistakes’ known as variants occasionally encode incredible abilities. Odd elephants, hiding in our ocean depths, and Rogue-ish bacteria are just a few examples. Dr. Arnold defends these genetic anomalies, and explains how they can make a huge difference to the future of humanity and life on this planet. Also joining us is marine biologist Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta, who shares an incredible ability sitting in our ocean depths. Immortality.

So strap on your capes, because we’re heading straight into the strange terrain of “heroic mutations.”

Listen to Nice Genes! wherever you get your podcasts, brought to you by Genome British Columbia.

Resources:
Genetic Mutation - Nature
Genomic mutation rates: What high-throughput methods can tell us
Shane Campbell Staton Group - Tuskless Elephants
Ivory poaching and the rapid evolution of tusklessness in African elephants - Science
Real-Life X-Men: How CRISPR Could Give You Superpowers in the Future - synthego.com
Indonesian divers have evolved bigger spleens to hunt underwater - Science
Mutations may reveal how Tibetans can live on world's highest plateau - Science
The Immortal Jellyfish - American Museum of Natural History
Cellular reprogramming and immortality: Expression profiling reveals putative genes involved in Turritopsis dohrnii’s life cycle reversal
Transcriptome Characterization of Reverse Development in Turritopsis dohrnii (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria)
Horizontal gene transfer and adaptive evolution in bacteria - nature reviews microbiology
Horizontal gene transfer overrides mutation in Escherichia coli colonizing the mammalian gut - PNAS
The Ship of Theseus Dilemma - Open Okstate

Have 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 of the season, Sarah Lando and Dr. Kaylee Byers explain the surprising new evidence that finally explains this purr-ticular quirk.

Resources

1. Gene behind orange fur in cats found at last- Science.org
2. Scientists track down mutation that makes orange cats orange- Science Daily

This 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 its watery surface. So, you may just have to use your ears when it's too dark to see exactly what's going on down there.

Dr. Kaylee Byers looks into the ocean giants that lurk in the depths and the unique songs they share with us. She sits down with whale biologist Dr. Jennifer Allen on how whale songs are imparting a cultural exchange between populations that are hundreds of miles apart. Filmmaker Joshua Zeeman shares his journey to find the infamously dubbed 'Loneliest Whale'. And Paeleobiologist Dr. Travis Park from the Museum of Natural History in London tells us how whales developed their unique singing superpowers by taking us back through millions of years of evolution. Finally, researcher Grace Baer brings us to a remote west coast station studying whale populations and the effects of ocean traffic noise.

It's a whale-sized episode taking you on a listening journey into this wonderful watery world!
Special thanks to Captain Gaelen Krause of the Island Odyssey, for capturing recordings on his journey to search for whales along the British Columbia coast.

Resources:
1. Southern Resident Killer Whale Research Project | Parks Canada
2. Whales learn songs from each other in a cultural 'deep dive' | phys.org
3. Whale-monitoring robots are oceanic eavesdroppers with a mission | Popular Science
4. Whale Songs Are Getting Deeper | The Atlantic
5. The search for the loneliest whale in the world | The Guardian
6. The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 | Bleecker Street Media
7. BTS (방탄소년단) Whalien 52' MV | BigHit Entertainment
7. Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
8. Underwater Noise Pollution Is Disrupting Ocean Life - But We Can Fix it | TIME
9. Convergent evolution in toothed whale cochleae | BMC Evolutionary Biology
10. Evolutionary Basis of High-Frequency Hearing in the Cochleae of Echolocators Revealed by Comparative Genomics | Oxford Academic
11. Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes | Nature
12. DNA Suggests Cultural Traits Affect Whale Evolution | Science
13. San Francisco: Dead Whale Opens Seafood Season | Universal International Newswire
14. Songs of the Humpback Whale | Roger Payne, CRM Records
15. Whaling Commission | Associated Press Archive
16. Monaco - International Whaling Commission | Associated Press Archive
17. Bubble Net Feeding | BC Whales
18. Cool Genomics Facts - Fact 4 & 5: Environmental DNA | Genome British Columbia

The 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 Short, Sarah Lando walks Dr. Kaylee Byers through the drama behind the headlines, and what it all means if you’re thinking about exploring your own ancestry DNA.

Resources

1. The rise and fall of 23andMe - Business Insider
2. The rise and fall and rise again of 23andMe - Nature