Listen to the Ask A Biologist Podcast

A Biology Podcast for Everyone

You have been reading about the biologists behind the Ask A Biologist website. Now you can listen to them in our popular biology podcast show. Dr. Biology has been speaking with many of the biologists that are discovering new worlds and exploring new frontiers in biology. There are over 100 episodes and we continue to add more interviews. Each show includes a full written transcript and content log.

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Randy Nesse

Why We Get Sick

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 98
Guest: Randy Nesse

What can evolution teach us about getting sick and how do we make use of what we are learning? Dr. Biology gets over a cold while visiting with Randy Nesse, Founding Director of the ASU Center for Evolution & Medicine. The two talk about why we get sick and some of the amazing things our body can do to repair itself. All of this is part of the study and practice of evolutionary medicine.

Arvind Varsani in front of a world map.

Virus Quest

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 97
Guest: Arvind Varsani

One of the benefits of being a biologist can be travel. There are some researchers who travel the globe as part of their work. Arvind Varsani is a molecular virologist who studies viruses found around the world. Dr. Biology was able to catch Arvind between trips to talk about his work, including his research in the Antarctic and the mystery about some penguins that are missing their feathers.
Rosa Krajmalnik Brown

Microbes Living Inside Us

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 96
Guest: Rosa Krajmalnik Brown

In this program we talk a lot about cells. In particular plant, animal, and microbial cells. But did you know there is a world of microbes that make their home inside and on our bodies? Before you start to worry, you need to know most of these microbes are important for us to live. In fact, without them we would not be here. This tiny world is the focus of Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown’s research. It spans the microbes that live with us and those that are helping us clean up our environment.
Grant McFadden

History, Rabbits, and a Deadly Virus

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 95
Guest: Grant McFadden

This is the story of wild rabbits, humans, and a virus that might lead to a treatment for cancer. It is also a lesson about learning from history and how a virus that is deadly to some rabbits could become a new cancer-fighting tool for humans. Twice humans moved wild rabbits from Europe to other parts of the world with dramatic consequences. In this episode, Dr. Biology has the opportunity to learn about the myxoma virus, its history, and the work of virologist Grant McFadden.
Joe Palca

Who Do You Trust?

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 94
Guest: Joe Palca

The evening news, your local paper, online websites, blogs, twitter, Facebook, and yes podcasts all are communicating the latest science news. In this mix of messages are often conflicting stories about what is good and bad for you. It also seems that every other day there is a cure for cancer or some other disease. With all this messaging, who do you trust? Dr. Biology has a chance to talk with Joe Palca, a longtime science correspondent, about who we should trust and science communication.
Photograph of Athena Aktipis

Are Your Cells Cooperating or Cheating?

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 93
Guest: Athena Aktipis

Cooperation is something that humans and animals are known to do. It turns out that the 30 trillion cells in our body also need to cooperate. Like some humans, there are cells that are cheaters when it comes to cooperation. They do not do their share of the work and cause a lot of other problems. These are cancer cells. Cooperation theorist Athena Aktipis talks with Dr. Biology about her research and how it might help us learn more about cancer cells.
Max Tegmark

Life 3.0

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 92
Guest: Max Tegmark

Life in the year 2050, what will it look like? Will it be the age of intelligent computers? Could this happen even sooner? Physicist and author Max Tegmark talks about the future of artificial intelligence and how it might impact biological life on this planet. Dr. Biology learns about the future of smart computers. Will they become too smart for humankind? What precautions should we put in place to secure our place on Earth and our future?
Klaus Lackner

Hacking Nature

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 91
Guest: Klaus Lackner

Hacking is a word that is often tied to something bad. However, there are times when hacking can be for something good. Think of it as a tool that can be put to use for good or bad. We also think of hacking as something only done with computers, but can we hack other things? Dr. Biology has the opportunity to sit down with scientist Klaus Lackner to talk about how he is hacking the environment in order to pull carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air. If he succeeds, it could help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and redirect it towards better uses.

Catyana Falsetti

Drawn to Bones

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 90
Guest: Catyana Falsetti

Television portrays the lives and work of forensic artists, but what is it like to really be a forensic artist? Are the tools you see on the big and little screen really used by the people who recreate the face of someone when there might only be a skull or parts of a scull to use as a starting point. Dr. Biology visits with forensic artist and author Catyana Falsetti to learn the answers to these questions and a lot more.

Nick Lane

Why Is Life The Way It Is?

Ask A Biologist Podcast, Vol. 89
Guest: Nick Lane

What would life be like on other planets? This is just one of many questions that Biochemist and author Nick Lane talks about while visiting with Dr. Biology. Listen in as Nick explores not only life on our Earth, but also what it might be like on other planets. Nick also reads from his book, The Vital Question, and weighs in on the question of viruses - are they living or non-living?

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