Inside the Breakthrough - How Science Comes to Life SciMar with Dan Riskin

How you tell a story goes a long way to determining whether or not it gets believed, and remembered.

Let’s talk about the use of animals in medical research. It’s not a subject that people are very comfortable discussing, but we are going to do it anyway.

We will start with an incredible story of a fire in Bar Harbor Maine that impacted the health of people all over the world for years, even though they never even knew about it.

Then we will ask the question ‘what really causes Ulcers, and how did researchers figure that out?’

Dr Wayne Lautt has used animals in his experiments for years. But his approach to it is very different from the mainstream view.

The relationship between researchers and funders is complicated.

Some people think that researchers should be left to their own direction and that all financial support should be ‘no-strings attached.’ But is that possible? Is it desirable?

We look at how the Roman Coliseum was funded, and ask ‘what impact did that have on its design and its use?’

Then we turn our attention to NASA --- is the space agency funded by the military? Should it be? And how has its unique funding arrangement impacted what it does?

Finally we’ll confront the thorny question of ‘how much influence should funding agencies have over research?’

The Amish community in Pennsylvania is heavily impacted by genetic diseases. You might think that their resistance to modern technology would make it difficult to treat these conditions. But actually their philosophies around family and community make it easier to manage these diseases.

John Franklin’s ships were lost to the world for more than a century and a half. They were only discovered by a team of people that combined modern search tools with historical knowledge.

We talk with Jennefer Nepinak about the concept of ‘two-eyed seeing.” Through this approach we consider new ways of dealing with mental health, and diabetes.

We often complain about having too little of something: Too little time, too little money. But today in first world countries a lot of our problems come from having too much of something: Too much sugar, too much technology.

We point this lens at a pair of historical stories to better understand if tragedies and hardships of the past were really the result of having ‘too little’ of something, or if we need to use a different perspective.

We talk with Dr Jason Fung about his views on fasting and whether we eat too much, too little, or just too often!

We’ve all heard the saying about “the best laid plans….” but there is a caveat to that. Not all unexpected consequences are bad. Sometimes something really amazing occurs unexpectedly.

This episode tells the story of Henry Molaison, better known as Patient HM, or “the most important brain in the history of neuroscience.” Henry didn’t set out to be a guiding light for the world of neuroanatomy. He just wanted a cure for his epilepsy. But what happened to him and the impact he had on the world is a story that needs to be told.

We will also hunt for cobras in India, and try to explain why that plan backfired.

Dr Seema Nagpal from Diabetes Canada will join us to explain the often unseen impact diabetes has on people, and to offer some thought on what the consequences of a cure might be.

These science stories from history help shed light on the modern research being done on Type 2 Diabetes. Specifically, we highlight the work of SciMar as they examine the hormone hepatalin and the effect it has on glucose levels in people who are living with type 2 diabetes. www.SciMar.ca