Viagra and CRISPR

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2018

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Viagra’s effects on men were first discovered as an unexpected side-effect during trials for a medication meant to help patients with a heart condition. CRISPR cas– 9 is now a tool that can be used to modify and replace genes – but it was first noted as a random collection of genes. In the first of three episodes about the genius of accidents in science, Professor Adam Hart explores how, sometimes, the results you’re looking for are not as important as those that appear unexpectedly. Picture: Test Tubes, Credit: Grafner/Getty Images Producer: Rory Galloway

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Doleepa, and I'm at your service.
0:04.7	Join me as I serve up personal conversations
0:07.1	with my sensational guests.
0:08.9	Do a leap, interviews, Tim Cook.
0:11.2	Technology doesn't want to be good or bad.
0:15.0	It's in the hands of the Creator.
0:16.7	It's not every day that I have the CEO of the world's biggest company in my living room.
0:20.6	If you're looking at your phone more than you're looking in someone's eyes, you're
0:24.7	doing the wrong thing.
0:25.9	Julie, at your service.
0:27.8	Listen to all episodes the BBC World Service.
0:40.8	In this and the next two episodes, I'll be exploring the genius of accidents and
0:45.1	how luck and serendipity have been surprisingly important in some of the
0:49.6	greatest discoveries in science. Today I'll be looking at two different occasions in which
0:54.6	scientists who were studying one thing stumbled across something entirely
0:58.4	different. First up how a drugs trial some embarrassing erections and some observant nurses led to a revolution
1:05.4	in treating a problem that very few people used to talk about, erectile dysfunction.
1:10.1	Yes, it's the story behind a little blue pill and have Viagra changed the world in a big way.
1:16.0	Before the approval of Viagra for the treatment of erectile dysfunction,
1:21.0	there was no effective oral therapy. When Viagra came along, the
1:27.7	number of patients seeking treatment skyrocketed.
1:45.0	The advent of Viagra and the notoriety of Viagra has really been a watershed moment for sex in terms of its impact on the human population. Every year at least 40 tons of Viagra are prescribed and consumed by men with
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