Nice Genes‪!‬ Genome BC

How Mice and CRISPR are Reversing Blindness

One small step for science, one furry leap for mousekind. Scientists have found a way to reverse a common mutation that causes blindness in both people and mice using gene editing technology.

References:
In Mouse Study, Scientists Use Gene Editing to Reverse a Major Cause of Blindness | US News

Credits:
Children's Songs by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians | Internet Archive
Three Blind Mice - Beidernecke, Bix | Internet Archive

How Deleted DNA Reveals the Origins of Humanity

In 2007, researchers pitted humans against chimpanzees in a memory test competition. Who was the victor of this mental jungle gym? Phoebe Melvin and Dr. Kaylee Byers delve into Yale University research that reveals what DNA humans share with our primate relatives but, more intriguingly, what sets us apart.

References:
Mankind’s Missing Puzzle Pieces: The “Deleted” Genes That Made Us Human | Yale University
Chimps Beat Humans on Memory Tasks | ABC News

Credits:
ABC News, Chimps vs Humans | ABC News & laffsteve

How an Oddball Bunny Saved Millions of Lives

Can a make-believe tale have real-life consequences? Perhaps a 1930s legend from a snowy town in Wyoming illustrates signals just how the strange things found in nature can become life-saving treatments.

References:
Are jackalopes real? | Live Science
New Research Shows the HPV Cancer Vaccine Saves Lives | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Credits:
The Legend Of Bigfoot | Internet Archive (CC)
Somewhere In Wyoming 1930 Joe Green Orchestra | Internet Archive (CC)

Meet the Magic of Mushrooms on Colour Blindness

Roughly 300 million people have a colour vision deficiency. But with a few mushrooms and some magic, those who experience colourblindness might be able to see a whole range of colors for the first time.

References:
Magic Mushrooms seem to have a strange effect on color blindness | Science Alert
Ishihara test: Color Blind Test | Colormax
What is LSD | Science Alert
Case report: Prolonged amelioration of mild red-green color vision deficiency following psilocybin mushroom use | Drug Science, Policy and Law
Improved colour blindness symptoms associated with recreational psychedelic use: Results from the Global Drug Survey 2017 | Drug Science, Policy and Law

Indigenous Environmental Stewardship

Description:
The Indigenous peoples of what’s now known as Western Canada had a relationship of reciprocity with the land. But when explorers from Europe arrived eager to tame the land and absorb its vast natural resources these two world views came to a head. And caught in between an iconic species of the Pacific Northwest—the Gary Oak—has become threatened. So how can we reconcile the harmful assumptions of the past that overlooked other ways of managing ecosystems?

Dr. Kaylee Byers and Co-Host Dr. Lyana Patrick, look to the forests, rivers, and oceans of Turtle Island to uncover the various food systems and traditional stewardship practices that existed before colonization. Ethnobotonist, John Bradley Williams shares the traditional use of Garry Oaks and how they became systematically destroyed. Dr. Tabitha Robin from the University of British Columbia shares her experience working with and studying Indigenous Food Sovereignty. Lastly, Canadian Anthropologist and National Geographic explorer Dr. Wade Davis, through insights from his career visiting communities around the world shares how we can dismantle the prevailing biases that continue to threaten the health of our planet.
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Highlights:
(3:53 - 8:55) An icon on the brink, J.B. Williams shares the origins and challenges of Garry Oak meadows
(11:24 - 14:50) Moving forward, Dr. Tabitha Robin shares the overlooked history of Indigenous food sovereignty
(18:45 - 23:20) How an academic divide threatens our planet, anthropology lessons from National Geographic's Dr. Wade Davis

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Learn-A-Long: https://bit.ly/3GPwxnf

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Resources:
Indians and Europeans on the Northwest Coast: Historical Context | Center for the Study of Pacific Northwest
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is mentioned for the first time in April 1596 | History Link
Purchas His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells by Englishmen and others | Center for the Study of Pacific Northwest
The Garry Oak Learning Meadow | Parks Canada
Harvesting strategies as evidence for 4000 years of camas (Camassia quamash) management in the North American Columbia Plateau | The Royal Society
Conservation status of native tree species in British Columbia | Global Ecology and Conservation
Seeing the garden through the trees: The Indigenous forest gardens of coastal B.C. | Canadian Geographic
Bison Bellows: Indigenous Hunting Practices | National Parks Service
Weir Fishing | Heritage Lower Saint Lawrence
Combining Genomic Insights and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge for the Conservation of Pacific Salmon | Genome British Columbia
Puyallup Tribe hosts c’abid (camas) harvest at PLU | Pacific Luthern University
Saving the planet means listening to Indigenous peoples: Wade Davis | CBC
Spatial and temporal assessments of genetic structure in an endangered Garry oak ecosystem on Vancouver Island | Canadian Science Publishing

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Credit:
Interview with Tibet's 14th Dalai Lama by Robert AF Thurman, Harvard 1981 | Tibet House US Menla Online

Challenging our assumptions about pain

When Jackie Gonzalez was just young, doctors assumed that she was pining for attention when she restlessly tried to rub her feet and describing that she was in constant pain. It wasn’t until she was a teenager that doctors and scientists diagnosed her with Erythromelalgia, also known as ‘Man on Fire Syndrome’. It's a rare condition, and even rarer for people to be born with it, like Jackie was. But what if this uncommon ailment could be cured with the help of an even less common animal?

Dr. Kaylee Byers sits down with Adele Gonzalvez from the University of Sydney on her work to understand the genetic properties of platypus venom. Researchers indicate that their peculiar toxin could put a halt to chronic pain. Meanwhile, producer Sean Holden, puts on rubber waders and sloshes into the boggy waters of Southern Australia to find the notoriously elusive platypus and its venom.

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Highlights:
(6:28) A lifetime of pain, Jackie Gonzalez on having Erythromelalgia
(13:51) A weird and wonderful platypus with Adele Gonzalvez
(21:30) On the platypus prowl, Josh Griffith and his team search for platypus and their venom

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Learn-A-Long: https://bit.ly/3Nv5X6v

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Resources:
Next-gen painkillers from nature’s deadliest life forms | The University of Queensland
Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2019–2021 | MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
You Won’t Think the Platypus Is So Cute if You Feel the Excruciating Pain of Its Venom | Slate
The Science of Pain | GI Society
The mysterious science of pain - Joshua W. Pate | TED-Ed
Human pain and genetics: some basics | British Journal of Pain
Genetic contributions to pain: a review of findings in humans | Oral Dis. 2008 Nov;14(8):673-82
Why Do I Have Pain? | KidsHealth Medical Experts
Channelopathy-associated congenital insensitivity to pain | Medline Plus
Erythromelalgia | StatPearls Publishing
SCN9A gene sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 9 | Medline Plus

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Credit:
Special thanks to Jackie Gonzalez from the Erythromelalgia Association for providing field recordings of her daily experience living with EM.