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Unexpected Elements

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The news you know, the science you don’t.

The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.

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Unexpected Elements: Synthetic Biology Solutions for Diabetes

Discussion & Talk

Synthetic Biology Solutions for Diabetes

10/12/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - Unexpected Elements, Synthetic Biology Solutions for Diabetes

Could synthetic cells be used to cure type 1 diabetes?

Synthetic Biology Solutions for Diabetes; The inflamed brain; Do martian rocks contain signs of life?; How memories are made and lost; Origins of human culture; 100 Women

Scientists have designed synthetic cells that can sense glucose levels in blood and produce insulin when it is needed. The cells have been demonstrated in mice.  If human trials are successful, it could mean a four-monthly implant could stop the symptoms of types 1 and some type 2 diabetes.

Psychosis and the Inflamed Brain
We are all familiar with the idea the immune system can attack the body by mistake.  Type 1 diabetes is the classic example.  But now a group of researchers believe a rogue immune system could cause some people's mental health disorders.  It is controversial and yet it could be the most significant finding in the field for decades.  BBC Health and Science reporter James Gallagher explains.

Do Martian Rocks Contain Signs of Life?
When the Mars rover Spirit recorded rocks in the Gusev crater back in 2007. It detected small lighter-coloured lumps. Geologists think these could be fossilized stromatolites in the form of opal.  Back on Earth, these structures are made by films of blue-green algae and other microbes.  Now, a decade later, geologists have found very similar features in the highland deserts of northern Chile, which have bacterial structures in them, all of which make compelling reasons to go back to the Martian crater in 2010.

How Memories are Made and Lost
How are memories made?  Claudia Hammond joins an audience at London’s Royal Institution this week to hear from three prize-winning neuroscientists about their cutting-edge research on the brain.  Earlier this year Tim Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris won the 1m Euro Lundbeck Foundation Brain Prize – the world’s biggest prize for neuroscience.  They worked out how the brain remembers, how it strengthens connections between different brain cells and why it sometimes forgets.

Origins of Human Culture
We humans are such a successful species.  Homo sapiens have been around for only around 100 000 years and in that time we have utterly transformed the world around us. Our shelters allow us to live in all climates and from the poles to the tropics; our technology lets us communicate across the planet. We have created art and music and literature; and our agriculture has changed global biodiversity, shifting forever the way we feed ourselves. In other words, human culture dominates the earth. Gaia Vince investigates what has given us the cultural edge over other animals. This includes our closest relatives – the great apes – with whom we share over 95% of our genes.

100 Women
As part of BBC 100 Women 2016 we’re asking the question is the internet sexist?  Only 15% of Wikipedia editors are women and less than 15% of notable profiles are of women. Half of the BBC’s 100 women over 3 years still do not have a Wikipedia page. Science in Action reporter, Tracey Logan, has a go at editing Wikipedia pages for notable female scientists – Frances Micklethwait and Rachel McKendry - as part of a Wiki Editathon.


(Picture caption: A medical assistant holds an insulin pen administered to diabetes patients © Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images)


The Science Hour was presented by Roland Pease with comments by James Gallagher, Science Reporter, BBC News online


Producer: Alex Mansfield

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