Is gene therapy the future?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Last week, a girl who was born deaf had her hearing restored following gene therapy. In the US, the first commercial gene therapy for sickle cell disease has just begun. And Great Ormond Street Hospital has found great success in their trials and a gene therapy for children lacking an immune system. Gene therapy is clearly having a moment. But how do these groundbreaking therapies actually work? And will they ever be truly accessible to everyone? Geneticist Professor Robin Lovell-Badge answers all. Also this week, atmospheric scientist Laura Wilcox answers an interesting listener question about the effect volcanoes can have on the weather and sticks around to dig into the connection between aerosols and weather in different regions.

The exhibition “Bees: A Story of Survival” opened at the World Museum in Liverpool this month. Part of the show explains the how honeybees communicate through vibration. Physicist Martin Bencsik, who collected and studies these vibrations, plays us a few and explains their meaning.

And did you get a chance to see the auroras that covered a large part of the Northern Hemisphere last weekend? The intense solar activity that caused them has some people alarm. Jim Al-Khalili, who has written a science fiction novel based on the concept, talks what is protecting us from solar flares and what could go wrong.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston and Hannah Robins Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and maybe it's when I had a hand in.
0:04.0	I'm Tammy Walker and I produce podcasts for the BBC.
0:08.0	My role is to give new and diverse creators a voice with the opportunity to build a career.
0:12.0	That's the thing I love about podcasts.
0:14.4	You start with just a good idea, but then you have the space to see where it goes.
0:18.4	And doing that at the BBC means we can really run with the best stories
0:21.9	while developing the most unique audio talent.
0:24.8	So if you like what you hear, why not check out the huge range of podcast we've got on BBC Sounds.
0:31.6	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:35.0	Welcome to the podcast version of Inside Science, first broadcast on the 16th of May,
0:41.0	2024, with me Marnie Chesterton.
0:44.0	Coming up, we're eavesdropping on this animal. Find out what this is and what it's saying. Also what are aerosols and how do they affect the weather.
1:02.2	Plus Jim Alkulele joins me. aerosols and how do they affect the weather.
1:03.0	Plus, Jim Alkulele joins me to discuss the dangers of the beautiful aurora's in our night skies.
1:10.0	Now, you may have come across reports a few days ago of the baby girl born death who can now hear thanks to groundbreaking gene therapy treatment.
1:20.0	Meanwhile over in the States, commercially available gene therapy for sickle cell disease started on the first patient.
1:27.0	And just two days ago, Great Orman Street Hospital published the wildly successful results of their gene
1:34.0	therapy for babies born with no immune system. With breakthroughs coming
1:39.2	thick and fast we wanted to dig into how these therapies work and possible drawbacks and
1:44.8	decided that first it might be useful to have a little primer on this topic.
1:49.4	Here are producers Ella Hubba and Sophie Ormiston with a quick lesson on the basics.
1:54.6	So Ella what is the gene part of gene therapy exactly?
	...

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