Sodium

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2018

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sophie Scott on why sodium powers everything we do, and why it might be the key to a new generation of pain killers. Putting sodium into water is one of the most memorable experiments from school chemistry lessons. It's this ability to react ferociously with water which is the starting point for sodium's key role in powering all of biology. Simply, without sodium we wouldn't exist. It helps provide the electricity that allows us to move, breathe, think. Our understanding of sodium could help in the search for analgesics with few side effects for severe pain. Recent discoveries of families who feel searing pain with mild warmth, or those who feel no pain at all even in childbirth, have opened up new avenues in pain research. Their rare genetic mutations change the way sodium works in their bodies: from this new knowledge neuroscientists are developing drugs that could give rise to a much needed new generation of pain killers. Image: Traditional glass salt cellar (Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:31.0	sodium, in its most familiar form, table salt has a pretty bad name because of its role in increasing
0:37.7	blood pressure and heart disease. But sodium is actually essential for life.
0:43.1	You can listen to my voice and understand what I'm saying,
0:45.8	all because of sodium and the tiny biological batteries it creates.
0:50.3	I'm Professor Sophie Scott,
0:51.8	and in this edition of Discovery on the BBC World Service
0:55.0	I'll be exploring why this element is behind some of the deadliest toxins on the planet
1:00.0	and how it could pave the way for a new generation of powerful painkillers.
1:05.0	But before that, what most of us may remember about sodium is its response in the
1:10.3	classic school chemistry experiment, where sodium a surprisingly soft
1:15.0	fleetingly beautiful silver metal meets water.
1:18.0	So I really want to introduce you to this amazing element that was discovered by Humphrey Davy at the beginning of the 19th century.
	...

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