Bacterial cell walls, antibiotics and the origins of life
The cell wall is a crucial structure found in almost all bacteria. It is the target for our best antibiotics and fragments of the wall trigger powerful innate immune responses against infection. Surprisingly, many bacteria can switch almost effortl....
More details | Watch nowMemories
A fun view of a serious subject. Lilya and Shiza take a look at how memories are made.
More details | Watch nowChemistry of Love
The Road to the Nobel Prize – Lessons from a life with the Helicobacter pylori
In 2005 Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their 1982 discovery that a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, causes one of the most common and important diseases of mankind, pepti....
More details | Watch nowPartnerships, Puzzles and Paradigms – A collaborative approach to cholesterol
Dr Michael Brown and his long-time colleague, Dr Joseph L. Goldstein, together discovered the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in blood and in cells. They showed that mutations in this receptor cause fam....
More details | Watch nowLessons from a Life in Science – How to get a Nobel Prize
Dr. Tim Hunt spent almost 30 years altogether in Cambridge, mostly working on the control of protein synthesis. In 1982, he discovered cyclins, which led to a share of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with Lee Hartwell and Paul Nurse....
More details | Watch nowCancer and Responses to Perturbing Telomere Maintenance
Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D. is the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries in telomere biology that have uncovered a new understanding of normal cell functioning and given rise to a growing field of inquiry.Lect....
More details | Watch nowPhysicians, chemists and experimentalists: the Royal Society and the rise of scientific medicine, c. 1600-1850
The period 1600-1850 saw fundamental changes in how we understand natural processes. Chemistry and medicine especially moved away from classical ideas of 'balance' and 'vital properties' - such as fire and water - to understanding nature as an integr....
More details | Watch nowEverest, the first ascent: the untold story of the man who made it possible
The conquest of Everest by a British team in 1953 has always been celebrated as a triumph of heroic leadership, team work and courageous climbing, but the vital role that scientific innovation played in the success of the expedition has never been wi....
More details | Watch nowThe mechanics of memory
How does the brain store and recall memories? A critical neural component of memory is the synapse, a specialist junction where one nerve cell releases a transmitter chemical to influence the excitability of another. Memorable events are thought to i....
More details | Watch nowCognitive enhancing drugs: neuroethical issues
Cognitive enhancing drugs are used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These drugs improve the quality of life and wellbeing for patients and their families.
More details | Watch now