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The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2013

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, smells, pheromones and anosmia. We talk to a patient with no sense of smell, hear why odours might be more down to the way molecules vibrate that how they are shaped, we look at the role that genes play in what we can smell and hear how pheromones affect how we feel. Plus, in the news, the legacy of double Nobel laureate Fred Sanger who died this week, a new water-repelling material which rejects water faster than ever before, an ode to World Toilet Day, the swarm of tiny satellites which are helping to miniaturise space missions, and we hear about the bacteria that have acquired... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Hello and
0:15.0	with Ginny Smith, hi Ginny,
0:20.0	hi there and this week
0:22.0	we'll find out more about the work of Fred Sanger, the double
0:25.5	Nobel Prize winning scientist who sadly passed away this week. We'll hear about the
0:30.6	bacteria which have collected mammoth DNA from their environment.
0:34.8	Plus we'll be talking about the sense of smell.
0:37.7	How does it work?
0:38.9	Why is it so subjective and what would life be like without it? If you've got any questions or comments throughout the show, do get in touch with us.
0:46.0	You can email Chris at the Naked Scientist.com, tweet at naked scientist or find us on Facebook.
0:51.0	The Naked Scientist Podcast is powered by UKfast.co.uk.
1:00.0	Now before we get stuck into the news our scientific smell-related teaser for you
1:06.8	to ponder during the show this week is what links asparagus your gas cooker and a skunk. So have a think about that. Now it's time to
1:16.6	take a look at what's been making the science headlines this week.
1:19.4	Sadly earlier this week Fred Sanger the British biochemist who won two Nobel Prizes
1:24.0	passed away at the age of 95 he's best known for being the father of genomics by
1:28.7	developing methods which allow us to determine the sequence of proteins and DNA.
1:33.0	To find out more about his work we're joined in the studio by Professor Tim Hubbard from King's College London and King's Health Partners.
1:40.0	Now Tim, Fred's one of only four people ever to win two Nobel Prizes.
1:44.7	Why was his work so important?
1:47.1	So you have to think back to the 40s and 50s when it wasn't even realized that biology was digital.
1:54.0	So you had proteins and it wasn't even clear that they were
	...

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