Channel 29 had a very brief story last night about some research published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature dealing with some interesting work on the genetic mechanisms behind cancer metastasis.
While amazingly, 29 didn’t actually get this science story wrong, their segment wasn’t very enlightening either — and they missed some of the most interesting parts of the story. Fortunately, this week’s edition of the Nature Podcast has the story behind the work, as well as related work that identifies that certain genes could make cancer cells more susceptible to drugs while keeping normal cells safe.
The show transcript is here; the whole show’s a pretty good listen. At the head of the show, Chris Smith speaks with Michael White, from the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on identifying genes to target in cancer cells, then follows with Joan Massagué from the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on novel ways to block the spread of certain types of tumours.
The Nature Podcast may be the best science podcast on the net, and if you saw the Channel 29 segment last night (or even if you didn’t), the podcast is well worth a listen.