BioPOD

AI in healthcare

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Analia talks to Ben Glocker from CHAI (Causality in Healthcare AI) Hub, a network of scientists designing the next generation of heal...

Signs of life: detecting biosignals from fossil

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s episode, Nitara chats with Dr. Corentin Loron about how to interpret signatures of life, and what they might tell us about the first life...

Cell clocks: the circadian rhythm of the cells

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From jet lag to gene expression, your body runs on a schedule — but how? In this episode, Nitara chats with Dr. Priya Crosby about how individual ce...

Fossil detective: piecing together the neurobiology of fossil mammals

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s episode, Nitara chats with Dr. Ornella Bertrand about the evolution of the mammalian brain and inner ear, and how fossil evidence helps p...

Science and Policy with Prof. Andrew Millar

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wondered about the intersection of policy and science? Tune in as Markella chats with Professor Andrew Millar about his career and work as the Ch...

Becoming your own scientist

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wondered what it’s really like to become an independent researcher—calling the shots on what to study and navigating the highs and lows of do...

Entrepreneurship Series: ConceptionX, UK’s leading PhD deep-tech venture programme

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Biopod's entrepreneurship series, Keshav and Nitara sit down with Dr. Riam Kanso to discuss the journey behind ConceptionX, a ...

Conservation genetics with Dr Alex Ball

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every person interested in biology knows that population diversity is important for ecosystems. But do we understand what diversity means? In this epi...

Unstable fungal resistance

30 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a world where the human population is predicted to reach 10 billion by 2050, we urgently need to find ways to increase crop production. However, it...

Combining Art & Science: How and Why

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Video version: https://youtu.be/weaFSVsvyBY Anna Motýľová talks with Dr Keira Tucker, manager of ASCUS Art & Science, the first open access lab...

Entrepreneurship series: E.V.A Biosystems ft. Dr. Alex Speakman

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioPod’s entrepreneurship series, Keshav talks with Dr. Alex Speakman about his entrepreneurial journey of starting E.V.A Biosyst...

Aging sheep: long-term population studies in St Kilda

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aging, or senescence has been a topic of scientific fascination for a long time. Natural populations like the Soay Sheep in St Kilda, a remote scottis...

AMR through time with Katerina Guschanski

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We have all heard about the importance of the gut microbiome. But how much do you know about the oral microbiome in our mouths? In the second intervie...

Primate Evolution with Dr Katerina Guschanski

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this first episode of a two-parter with Dr Katerina Guschanski, Neelakshi Varma finds out about the intricacies and quirks of primate evolution, sp...

The world of editing

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioPod's publishing series, Severina and Dr Seema Grewal discuss the world of editing for scientific journals. Seema is the Ex...

Entrepreneurship series: NucBarcoder- Barcoding DNA to identify various species ft. Dr. Wu Huang

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioPod’s entrepreneurship series, Keshav and Dr. Wu Huang discuss the journey behind NucBarcoder, a species identification tool h...

Science communication and Education

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Anna and Andrea Paterlini talks about the approach to education of genetics and his experience developing a course for 2nd year bachel...

The ins and outs of scientific publishing

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With many PhD students interested in alternative career pathways in science, we are keen to explore and demystify the world of scientific publishing. ...

Let’s chat, meet Prof. Thorunn Helgason, new head of Biology School at the University of Edinburgh

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Haomiao chats with Professor Thorunn Helgason, the head of the School of Biological sciences at Edinburgh University. It’s been a y...

Plant fossils and the story they tell

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Neelakshi talks to Dr. Sandy Hetherington about the work in plant paleobotany and evolution. They discuss what are plant fossils, how...

Introduction to RNA Therapies with Prof Amy Buck

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the advancements of RNA synthesis techniques due to the success of the Covid-19 vaccine we are asking what other therapeutic purposes RNA could h...

Plastic: From Bin to Bake

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Severina Pociunaite chats to Dr Jo Sadler about how to view plastic as a resource, that can be turned into useful chemicals. Plastic ...

OGI Bio: An Automated Bioreactor Start-Up

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did this Edinburgh Professor move from studying physics to starting a Biotechnology spin-out company? In our new episode, we hear from Professor T...

Circadian Rhythms with Dr Gerben van Ooijen

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why do you think you are awake right now? You might be aware that your circadian rhythm determines your sleep cycle. But how does your body keep time?...

Green Bioactives: A biomanufacturing spin-out company

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Apple Chew chats to Professor Gary Loake, a group leader at the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences at the University of Edinburgh....

Campus Conservation with Dr Sophie Haupt

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Where do plant scientists get their plant materials from? How do you best grow a new species? In this episode, Haomiao sits down with Dr Sophie Haupt,...

PhD Advice from the New Director of Grad School

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Liz Gaberdiel chats to Gerben van Ooijen, postgraduate advisor and Director of the Graduate School at the University of Edinburgh. Th...

PhD Advice from postgraduate administrators Karen and Mairead

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Liz Gaberdiel interviews Karen Woodcock and Mairead Rae, the Postgraduate Programme Administrators of ICB, IQB3 and IEB, IIIR, IMPS, r...

Trash to Treasure with Dr Stephen Wallace

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Fossil fuels are used everywhere, in our clothing, our medicine, and even our cooking. Wouldn’t it be great if we could use another source to synthe...

The Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Right on the heels of the 2022 World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, this episode covers a broad overview of the key topics associated with antimicrobia...

iGEM2022 Petalution - How to clean our water using synthetic biology

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this very special episode, we hear from Dev, Charity, and Diana, who are part of a team competing in this years’ iGEM (International Genetically ...

Beetlejuices – How beetles take care of their offspring

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Chris Donohoe (@dono_heptane) chats with PhD students Casey Patmore (@paseycatmore) and Georgia Lambert (@GALambert3) about the fasci...

Academia Through Time

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this unique episode, Hend and Julie chat with scientists at different career stages and backgrounds about changes that have been happening in Acade...

Spore Wars - Microbial Biotechnology in Space with Dr Rosa Santomartino

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Rose Doyle  talks to Dr Rosa Santomartino of the UK Centre for Astrobiology about her research that’s “out of this world”. Ros...

Biology Without the Cells with Dr Nadanai Laohakunakorn

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Louis  and Liz chat to Dr Nadanai Laohakunakorn about his journey from a background in physics to now leading a group in synthetic b...

Psychoacoustic explorers: turning proteins into sounds with Edward Martin

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Rose Doyle talks to BioPOD alumnus and PhD student Eddie Martin. They discuss different ways of visualising protein structures and ho...

PhD Advice from recent PhD grad Dr Lizzie Wadsworth

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the second episode of our PhD advice series, Liz talks to Dr Lizzie Wadsworth, who recently finished her PhD at the University of Edinburgh. Lookin...

COP26 Debrief: Food Security with Dr Annis Richardson

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the second episode of our COP26, Chris chats to Dr Annis Richardson about her research on food security. With climate change causing extreme weathe...

Looking Back on COP26: Sustainable Biotechnology with Professor Louise Horsfall

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of our COP26 series, Chris talks to Prof. Louise Horsfall, Chair of Sustainable Biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh, about he...

PhD Advice from Dr Harriet Harris, the University Chaplain

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of our PhD Advice series, Liz (@lizgaberdiel) talks to Rev. Dr. Harriet Harris, the University of Edinburgh Chaplain, about how P...

Living the PhD Life

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this extra special episode, 5 different PhD students at different stages discuss their own unique PhD journey. We hear from the recent graduate Mig...

Crop improvement: getting inspiration from algae

31 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What does algae photosynthesis have to do with solving food insecurity?  In this episode on crop improvement, @_applechew interviews Liat Adler (@no...

Cell differentiation: When DNA met Sall4

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered what neglected regions of the genome do? In this episode we hear about the search for AT rich region binding proteins.Jack Suit...

Scotland's BioTech Stories: Engineered proteins in action

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second episode of the BioPOD series: Scotland's Biotech Stories.In this instalment, BioPodder Liz Gaberdiel interviews Professor Lynn...

Scotland's BioTech Stories: CryoEM - the cutting edge of structural biology with Dr. Marcus Wilson

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to a new BioPOD series: Scotland's Biotech Stories. In this installment, BioPodder Liz Gaberdiel interviews Dr. Marcus Wilson on Cryogeni...

Water 'bout cyanobacteria?: Producing high value products using sunlight ft. Anton Puzorjov

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dear listeners,Welcome back to another episode of BioPod! Today we walk you through to potential of cyanobacteria: turning tasty sunlight into a high...

Evergreen: How to block viral transmission ft. Prof. Neil Mabbott

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the fourth and final installment of BioPOD's #Vaccine15 miniseries, we have Liz Gaberdiel interviewing Professor Neil Babbott on how vaccines ...

COVID19: How to mass produce a vaccine ft. Dr Prerna Vohra

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wondered how vaccines are made in smaller batch scales, then upscaled to a world market? Hint: it's not the same as cooking a larger lasagne...

Viral Variants: How to track and tackle COVID variants ft. Dr Thomas Williams

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of our four-part vaccine 15-minute miniseries, biopodder Chris Donohoe  interviews Dr. Thomas Williams on how to track and tackle the...

Eureka! How To Design A Vaccine ft. Dr Christine Tait-Burkard

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our #Vaccine15 four-part 15-minute miniseries begins today! This week is all about how COVID vaccines were developed and designed with @CTaitBurkard f...

Darwin Tree of Life: Sequencing the Biome of the Great Britain Ft. Prof. Mark Blaxter & Dr. Alex Twyford

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we talk about the Darwin Tree of Life: Sequencing the Biome of the Great Britain with Professor Mark Blaxter & Dr Alex TwyfordThe...

How Synthetic Microorganisms can Biofacture High Value Products ft. Dr. Tessa Moses

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is about the use of synthetic organisms to produce pharmaceuticals and other high-value products.  Preceding the development of synthet...

Detecting Parasitic Infections in Cows by Small RNA (Trypanosomiasis) with Dr Maria Contreras-Garcia

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is transmitted via tsetse flies. It causes a disease known as trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in humans, but in c...

How Bacteria Produce Eco Nylon (BIOFACTURING). Ft. PhD Student Jack Suitor

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How can we produce useful materials from Bacteria? Today we have PhD Student Jack Suitor to tell us how we can modify bacteria against their own natur...

Carbon Dynamics and Climate Change in the Dry Tropics with Associate Professor Kyle Dexter

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join us for this interesting installment of BioPod featuring Associate Professor Kyle Dexter, interviewed by Hazel Huang. from the department of Geosc...

All Hands on Deck: Three Epidemiology PhD Students Who Contributed to COVID-19 Research in Edinburgh

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Three PhD students, a genomic epidemiologist studying Ebola virus, a molecular epidemiologist  studying Polio virus, and an infectious disease modell...

Women in Science: Featuring Edinburgh academics Prof. Lynne Regan and Prof. Meriem El Karoui

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A special 1-hour feature episode with two inspiring and highly successful academics from the University of Edinburgh: Prof Lynne J. Regan, the Head of...

Black in Botany: A Discussion with Botany PhD Student Jade Bleau

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Crops, Robots and Rolling Pins: Building Crop Resistance with PhD Student and Activist Tara Wight

07 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ep 7: Crops, Robots and Rolling Pins featuring PhD student  @TaraCanelaWight interviewed by @donohoho has dropped! Happy weekend curious beings! Sta...

Novel Gene Expression in Yeast, and a Successful Lifelong Research Career with Retiring Professor Jean Beggs

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered what a fulfilling scientific life is like? A life full of dreams, failures, success, fame? Professor Jean Beggs has retired fro...

How to Characterize the Structure of Lamin-A Proteins in Cells with Dr Alex Makarov

18 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5: Dr Alex Makarov In this episode, Chris sits down with Dr Alex Makarov who recently completed a PhD in Eric Schirmer's lab in the Wellc...

Begonia Biodiversity and Field Trips in South-East Asia with Dr Mark Hughes

19 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered how plant scientists discover new species in a genus? In this interview, we sit down with Dr Mark Hughes, a begonia researcher ...

The 500 Year Astrobiology Experiment with Dr Toby Samuels from the UK Centre for Astrobiology

23 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Completing his PhD in geomicrobiology at the UK centre for astrobiology, Dr Samuels investigated the extreme conditions that microbes can live in such...

Smartphone Biosensors and SynBio with Dr Baojun Wang and Dr Xinyi Wan

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

BioPOD is back with an episode on Smartphone Biosensors and the importance of Synthetic Biology in today's global landscape.  This episode focus...

Chicken Bioreactor: Engineered Chickens Which Produce Human Proteins with Dr Lissa Herron

25 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chickens that are genetically modified to produce human proteins in their eggs can offer a cost-effective method of producing certain types of drugs, ...