Honey, I Shrunk the Data

The world’s data is stored on millions of computers, or servers, that take up buildings’ worth of space and consume about as much electricity as France. How do we keep up with the increasing amount of data that we are generating? In this episode, we talk to Dina Zielinski, a bioinformatician, about her unexpected solution: storing digital data on DNA.



Music: "Lode Runner" and "Onward" from Poddington Bear.

Chimeras are People Too: Kate Woronowicz

You may think that all of your cells contain the same genetic sequence, with half of your DNA coming from your mom and half coming from your dad, but that is not always true. This CTOR short will introduce you to chimeras, hybrid creatures with more that one genome, that can be man-made or naturally occurring.

Check out the CTOR interview with Dr. Rich Schneider who uses chimeras as a research tool.

CTOR also has a blog post about chimeras and genetic mosaics.

Hosted by Kate Woronowicz

The Cat Who Broke his Sweet Tooth

Carry the One Radio


Feb. 15, 2014 (Hosted by Sam Esselmann)


This is our first "CTOR Short"! Our producer Samantha explores why her cat Maverick cannot taste sweet foods.

Pulling DNA: Sophie Dumont

When a cell divides (called a parent cell), it provides complete copy of genes to each new cell that is formed (called daughter cells). This complicated process occurs repeatedly to accomplish an organism's development, repair, and replenishment. To reliably split the DNA correctly requires an orchestra of microscopic interactions among many molecules. While we know many of the molecules involved, scientists still know relatively little about the mechanical interactions that underlie this process. Our guest this month, Sophie Dumont, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Tissue Biology at UCSF, hopes to understand these interactions. Specifically, her lab is working to understand how the chromosome (an organized structure of DNA) is divided and segregated into separate daughter cells. Her work has implications in various developmental disorders and cancer, which can result from errors in cell division. At the end of our talk she discusses the what it’s like to be a woman in science and gives advice to listeners interested in a career in science.

Music in this Episode: Lacrymae - Melodium, Bird’s Lament – Moon Dog, and Push and Pull – Rufus Thomas

More on the Dumont Lab's research

Hosted by Karuna Meda