Nice Genes!

For 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 in development for such a long time, what is with the hold up?

In this episode, Dr. Kaylee Byers takes us through the history of birth control – from silk condoms to beaver testicles – before heading back to high school bio for a good old-fashioned male anatomy lesson. Then, urologist Dr. Premal Patel walks us through the current options for males (spoiler alert: not a lot), and endocrinologist Dr. Stephanie Page gives us the lowdown on some of the promising gels, pills, injections and other methods that could finally change the game.

So hit play for some sexy science– from vasectomies, to genomics and infertility research, to reproductive equity for all.

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Highlights
2:18 - The wacky history of contraceptive methods
7:54 - Breaking down misconceptions of vasectomies
18:29 - A gel and a frontrunner for male birth control

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Sources
The History and Future of Birth Control - Live Science
World Contraception Day: 10 of history’s most horrible contraceptives - BBC
Breakthrough takes big step toward safe, reversible male contraception - Cornell

If 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…

And as climate change intensifies and human disasters reshape the environment, animals are being forced to come up with new ways to cope- fast!

In this season 6 premiere, host Dr. Kaylee Byers explores some winning (and losing) survival strategies. First up, wildlife biologist Dr. Kendall Calhoun takes us into the aftermath of wildfires to see how different animals are adapting to an ever-changing landscape. Then, evolutionary biologist Dr. Cara Love brings us to her work in Chernobyl, where a population of wolves is living a radioactive life– and their genomes could even offer clues for cancer treatment.

Highlights
04:58 Deer vs. Squirrels – Who’s Built to Survive a Wildfire?
12:27 Barry the Bear – The 500-Pound Bear Who Moved In After a Fire
19:57 Chernobyl’s wolves – Survival in a Radioactive World


Sources
FACT SHEET: Climate change and wildfires - Climate Institute
Movement behavior in a dominant ungulate underlies successful adjustment to a rapidly changing landscape following megafire - Movement Ecology
40 Years After Chernobyl, Wolves May Be Adapting to Live With Radiation - Science Alert
Signatures of Radiation-Induced Stress and Putative Selection on Immune Targets in Chornobyl Wolves - Molecular Ecology
Surviving in a poisoned land: Chernobyl's wildlife is different, but not in the ways you might think - BBC
What We Know About the Chernobyl Animal Mutations - ThoughtCo.

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