Lab Notes
The 21st century is the century of biology. Discoveries made in the lab today will shape the cures of tomorrow. Hosted by award-winning science writer Rachel Tompa and creator Rob Piercy, Lab Notes pulls back the curtain on the human stories behind headline-grabbing scientific studies and breakthroughs. Lab Notes is a production of the Allen Institute.
Episodes
12 episodes
Cells in Space!
Reaching new heights, stem cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science were flown into space for the first time ever. In 2023, astronauts from Axiom Space studied genetically engineered cells, derived from human skin cells, in microgravity ...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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12:48
The mystery of long COVID
Where are we with long COVID? Researchers at the Allen Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are working to understand the science behind this new chronic disease.
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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21:22
Cracking the code of addiction
Reward is essential for life. Our brains flood with feel-good chemicals when we learn, eat, have sex. But these essential brain circuits are hijacked in drug addiction. Neuroscientists at the Allen Institute and the University of North Carolina...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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23:50
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Bees suffer from social isolation too
It is no secret that social isolation has major developmental consequences on humans, but what about other social creatures like bumblebees? Neuroscientist Z Yan Wang investigated how social isolation impacted young bumblebees, and it looks ...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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21:38
Building a consciousness meter with Christof Koch
Can we put a number on human consciousness? Neuroscientist Christof Koch is leading an effort to build a consciousness meter that could h...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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21:02
Why don't we understand the brain?
Scientists have known for centuries that the brain is the seat of human thought, but we’re still in the dark about how it works. For Brain Awareness Week 2022, Lab Notes asked four neuroscientists to get into the weeds with us about why the ...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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20:30
Fire Inside: The quest to understand & prevent rheumatoid arthritis
In the early '80s, Linda Sloate was a 30-year old mom raising three little kids when she became one of an estimated 20 million people worldwide living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been a 40-year struggle filled with dozens of treatmen...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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19:50
The novelist and the scientist
When neuroscientist Christina Kim published an important research study, her close friend, novelist Yaa Gyasi, wanted to understand more about her friend’s work, so she asked to shadow her in the lab. That experience eventually formed the basis...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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20:30
Starved but unable to eat: Life with Crohn's
Aldan Beaubien was in high school when a smorgasbord of bagels, cream cheese and apple juice left him in agony. Months later, doctors diagnosed him with Crohn's disease. Now an IT engineer at a research institute studying the disease, Aldan has...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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16:25
SCANning for coronavirus
In the winter of 2019, a series of storms dubbed “Snowpocalypse” dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Seattle area, forcing the closure of schools and businesses. This weather-induced social-distancing caused flu cases to plummet. What
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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19:06
Taming the Beast
When the first U.S. COVID-19 cases began arriving at the hospital, doctors nicknamed the illness "The Beast" because of the way it attacked the body. Dr. Ryan Padgett treated several patients before he himself became infected and nearly died. H...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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24:50
A face mask that detects coronavirus
What if there were a face mask that could tell you you're infected with coronavirus before you ever show symptoms? In this episode we chat with Allen Distinguished Investigator Jim Collins from MIT and the Wyss Institute, about a wearabl...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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14:32
