Jessamyn Fairfield

speaker

401 appearances 5 recordings 1 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 30 Aug

Jessamyn Fairfield’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 5 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 2.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea · Is photographic memory a real thing? · 5 Jul 2026 podcast

And so in like initial mouse testing, the mice were OK.

It was just the melanoma itself.

So, you know, a long way from that initial study to human trials, but it's really interesting.

And one of the reasons in the interview with the researchers where they talked about, like, why were they looking at this specific sea squirt, you know, living off the coast of Antarctica is obviously a very extreme environment.

very, very cold temperatures, like really hostile conditions to life in a lot of ways.

But that also means that some of the things that are good at living there produce like molecules, produce chemicals that you wouldn't find in other parts of the world.

So a lot of medicines that have been approved for like human consumption tend to come from these sort of natural sources.

And the sea life and the creatures around Antarctica are potentially a really rich source of this because they have to survive in such difficult conditions, especially looking like a tasty treat, which apparently sea squirts do.

Well, definitely.

And I mean, basically, they talked in the article about how there's a lot of, there would be a lot of sea squirts needed to produce.

enough of this toxin, even just to do clinical trials.

And so the next step in terms of this research is actually just going to be looking at how we can synthesize a similar toxin in the lab, which is actually not necessarily straightforward, right?

Because you have to think about the conditions in which it's made, the bacteria, as well as the C-squirt organism.

But that's really the next step in terms of that chemistry before you could get to the point of doing actual trials.

So don't worry, the C-squirts in Antarctica are safe.

Yeah, and it's governed by the Antarctic Treaty.

So, of course, it has remained neutral for like 60 years now and is supposed to be a continent of peace and science.

But yeah, it needs to stay that way.

Why are you looking at me, Shane?

Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea · What happens when you're struck by lightning? · 21 Jun 2026 podcast

That's right, and a possible new cure for lupus, or at least a new treatment that can reduce its symptoms really dramatically, using immunotherapy.

Showing 221–240 of 401 · page 12 of 21