The Gene

What terrifying things go on in a chrysalis, and what dark role do genes play? In this episode, learn how a hormone wakes up a gene that triggers the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly -- from forming a chrysalis to liquefying the caterpillar to fuel the imaginal discs that form a butterfly.

How do viruses work? Sort of like aliens that invade cells and take them over. They do that enough times, and you’ve got a big ol’ problem on your hands. In this episode, learn how a virus invades and what it does to not only kill a cell but create a sort of infectious bomb that contaminates other cells.

What goes on in our DNA to make us grow grey hair, wrinkles and less than healthy DNA? In this episode, meet the workforce of proteins and enzymes in control of cell division and gene copying, and learn how damage can happen during cell-duplication, exposure to radiation or chemicals, other environmental variables like stress, diet, and even aging.

In the format of a cooking show, this episode delves into the difficulties of resurrecting extinct animals from remnant DNA. While the science fiction is famous, the reality is more complex and maybe impossible, but the science behind why it will likely stay science fiction is revealing.

It’s true that the banana and the slug are our genetic relatives, and so is everything else. But what does that mean? Which parts of our genes are related and just how much overall do we have in common with a banana and as science advances, how will that affect future fruit baskets?

DNA spells the instructions for every living thing we know about with just four letters. In this episode, we'll see how scientists are expanding the DNA alphabet that could show us what to look for in the search for E.T.

Computer code is finicky. If one line, or if one character is off, then the whole program can go sideways. Genetic code isn't much different. In this episode, we see what happens if code gets deleted, put in the wrong place, or switched with other code.

In this episode, we take you into the war room during the heat of battle with cancer to see what options we have in our arsenal and how they work.

We know that genes are the instructions that make us who we are, but how do genes do that? This episode gives a quick glance into how those mysterious instructions buried in a gene become the actual nose on a face.

In this episode, we visit Liver Town to see how a few over-active cells can ruin a perfectly good neighborhood. We look at the causes for this disease, commonly known as cancer, and mention a couple of ways to calm down those good genes that have gone bad.

If you're curious about the origin of boys, look no further than the Y chromosome and how it contributes not only to making a boy in utero but regulates brain functions and heart health for that boy's whole life.

For the first time, Nancy Wexler reveals that she has inherited the disease she has spent her life studying.