NOVA: Cracking the Code of Life Series

Lectures curated around NOVA: Cracking the Code that chronicles the race to capture one of the biggest prizes in scientific history: the complete letter-by-letter sequence of the human genome.

Related NPR Programs:

Human Genome Project Update
Who Owns the Human Genome?
Complete Human Genome Sequence Unveiled

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Stem Cell Research and Policy
George Q. Daley
November 19, 2004
01:16:42
George Daley and his team of stem cell rearchers from Harvard Medical School discuss the scientific and medical potential of stem cells, as well as the controversy and the impact of the recent election on stem cell policy.
Cloning and Stem Cell Therapy: Promise, Problem, Reality
Rudolf Jaenisch
March 8, 2006
00:50:03
Rudolf Jaenisch discusses how he has uncovered alternative methods to creating embryonic stem cells. As they struggle to grow human embryonic stem cells, biologists continue to face basic questions about how these cells work.
Stem Cells: Where Will the Road Lead?
George Q. Daley
May 4, 2006
01:22:08
A panel of experts meet to discuss the future of stem cell research. Few topics have touched so many areas as stem cell research. It has stirred politics, medicine, business, economics, and religion.
Inside a Stem Cell Laboratory
Ann Parson
January 6, 2005
01:20:30
Ann Parson, author of the recently published The Proteus Effect: Stem Cells and Their Promise for Medicine, shares some basic information about stem cells and what the future holds for medicines based on them.
From Stem Cells To Cancer Cells
Fernando Camargo
October 21, 2005
00:58:55
Fernando Camargo discusses his research on how cancer arises, what can be done to stop it, and whether cancer is related to stem cells. The human stem cells found in our bone marrow have the amazing ability to develop into different types of cells such as blood or immune system cells.
Audio-only
Origins of Cancer Stem Cells
Robert Weinberg
March 15, 2006
01:20:54
Whitehead Member Bob Weinberg explores how researchers are looking into the origins of the cancer stem cell. Why is cancer so difficult to treat? The answer may be found in the cancer stem cell, a concept that scientists have only recently begun to explore.
Human Genome and Beyond
Eric Lander
February 16, 2001
00:41:37
Dr.
How Genomes and Other Forces are Changing Your Life
Juan Enriquez
December 11, 2003
01:10:17
Juan Enriquez discusses his book, As the Future Catches You, which puts the reader face to face with a series of unprecedented political, ethical, economic, and financial issues, dramatically demonstrating the cascading impact of the genetic, digital, and intellectual revolutions of life.
Double Helix: The Script for Life
Richard Young
March 5, 2003
00:40:49
This is the first in a four-part series of lectures celebrating the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA in 1953.
Double Helix: Implications for Disease
Robert Weinberg
March 19, 2003
01:25:07
This is the third in a four-part series of lectures celebrating the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA.
Double Helix: Genomes to Biological Networks
Trey Ideker
March 5, 2003
00:31:25
This is the fourth in a four-part series of lectures celebrating the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA in 1953.
Edward Ball: The Genetic Strand
Edward Ball
November 9, 2007
00:45:29
Edward Ball discusses his new book The Genetic Strand. Ball, a National Book Award winner and Georgia native, looks at the hard science behind DNA forensics, while examining his own mixed family history.
Our Bodies, Our Technologies
Raymond Kurzweil
May 4, 2005
01:27:25
Inventor and writer Ray Kurzweil lectures on the topics found in his his forthcoming book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. How close are we to a world in which the abilities of machines are indistinguishable from those of the species that invented them?
Tissue Engineering: Challenges of Imitating Nature
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
March 18, 2005
00:47:30
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic imagines a world where we could engineer living tissues to cure a disease, heal an injury, or fix a broken heart. Tissue engineering combines the principles of biology, engineering and medicine to create biological substitutes of native tissues.
Audio-only
From New Biology to Novel Therapies
Alfred Goldberg
January 27, 2004
01:11:05
Alfred Goldberg portrays the flavor and rewards of contemporary biomedical research and illustrates how the recent revolutionary progress in understanding living cells at the molecular level is leading to new therapies.
Using Reverse Engineering to Go Forward
James J. Collins
June 8, 2004
00:25:43
James J. Collins discusses his research, which focuses on developing techniques and devices to characterize, improve and mimic biological function. Dr.
Nature to Nanotechnology and Back
Angela Belcher
June 8, 2004
00:21:37
Angela Belcher discusses her work as a materials chemist with expertise in the fields of biomaterials, biomolecular materials, organic-inorganic interfaces and solid state chemistry.
Adding Years to Your Life
Leonard P. Guarente
June 7, 2004
00:16:33
Dr. Guarente discusses his research, which focuses on issues surrounding aging.
IDEAS Boston Youth Summit: Dr. Amy Wagers
Amy Wagers
May 3, 2006
00:14:57
Amy Wagers talks about her research on defining the mechanisms that regulate the movement, growth, and regenerative potential of blood-forming and muscle-forming stem cells; and she discusses what led her to her current work. This lecture is presented by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.
America and the Progressive-Conservative Debate
William Kristol
October 30, 2006
01:31:44
William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, debate the issues, from stem cell research to the war on terror, that define and often divide American politics today.
Inventing Modern America: Microwave to the Mouse
Doug Engelbart
November 27, 2001
01:43:39
This lively panel, discussing Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse, celebrates the best of American ingenuity and inventiveness.