Einstein a Go Go

Guest 1: Wayne Gerdtz, Museum Curator and Palaeontology enthusiast.

Wayne discussed the exciting discovery of a brand new dinosaur species in Australia.

Guest 2: Dr. Paul Ekert, Group Leader of the Cell Biology Laboratory at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

“My research focuses on how certain growth factors send signals to cells to regulate cell survival. Growth factors are proteins that form an essential method of communication between the external environment of a cell and the internal workings of cells. Cells have specific receptors on their surfaces that can “detect” the presence of these growth factors and turn these into specific messages that regulate the behaviour of cells. For example, people who have lost blood generate a growth factor called EPO which tells blood stem cells to proliferate and make more blood cells. Cyclists in the Tour du France inject this growth factor to tell their blood stem cells to make more blood. Other growth factors, such as ones we are interested in, are detected by blood stem cells and send other messages like “you are OK, you can continue to live” and “we need more of you, divide” or “we need some specialist cell types, change into those”. In this context we have specific interests in the way these growth factors regulate certain genes, in particular genes that regulate cell survival, and also a certain family of genes called Hox genes, that appear to be important in determining the nature of the growth factor message that the cells sense. From the perspective of human health, these genes and pathways are often abnormal in certain cancers, in particular some leukaemias.”

Guest 3: Sam Davison, actor.

Sam discussed his solo physical theatre piece about Copernicus and his motivations for exploring the man behind one of astronomy’s greatest findings.

‘COPERNICUS’ by Sam Davison.

@ SkyDome Theatre, Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks: 2 Booker Street Spotswood.

Season: Wednesday 16 September – Saturday 4 October (Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays).

What led an unassuming churchman to overthrow thousands of years of science and astronomy in one single act? Set amongst the spectacular 180° star-filled skies of the Melbourne Planetarium’s SkyDome, Copernicus is a solo physical theatre piece by Melbourne artist Sam Davison taking audiences on a dreamlike voyage inside the mind of the brilliant, yet shy, Polish renaissance astronomer. Copernicus is a truly immersive sensory experience, complimented by the raised stage of the Planetarium, reclining 45 degree angled seats, multimedia, special effects and richly layered surround sound.

Scientists Cure Color Blindness In Monkeys — Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Florida used gene therapy to cure two squirrel monkeys of color blindness — the most common genetic disorder in people. Writing online September 15 in the journal Nature, scientists cast a rosy light on the potential for gene therapy to treat adult vision disorders involving cone cells — the most important cells for vision in people.  (ScienceDaily; wikipedia)

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090920.mp3