Science Friction

In 2018, a Chinese scientist made an announcement that shocked the world — and landed him years in prison.In a special episode of Artificial Evolution, Health Report reporter Shelby Traynor traces the story of He Jiankui, the researcher who helped to produce genetically edited babies.His actions invited condemnation from scientists worldwide and opened new fronts of scientific and ethical debate.Thank you to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for supplying the baby KJ audio, and Genepool Productions for supplying the citizen's jury audio used in this episode.You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Reporter: Shelby Traynor Presenter: Peter de KruijffProducers: Shelby Traynor, Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Roi HubermanThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Dr Jane Goodall, a pioneer of ground-breaking chimpanzee field research, has died at the age of 91.Her early work, published in 1963, transformed our understanding of the social and emotional lives of chimpanzees and encouraged a wave of study into primate behaviour.She later established the Jane Goodall Institute, now one of the world's largest conservation organisations.In 2022, Natasha Mitchell interviewed Dr Goodall for Science Friction about her life and work.This episode of Science Friction first aired in May 2022.

Timothy Andrews has lived with a pig kidney in his body for eight months.That makes him a record breaker — living longer with a gene-edited pig kidney than anyone else in the world so far.In the final episode of Artificial Evolution, he tells us about his journey, his hopes for making it a year with the transplant, and the challenges he's faced along the way.With expanded clinical trials into this 'xenotransplantation' around the corner, researchers and advocacy groups argue a future in which animal organs are used in life-saving transplantation procedures for humans is not far off.So what is the science and history of xenotransplantation? What are the ethical concerns? And what's happening in Australia?You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Guests:Timothy AndrewsNew Hampshire, United StatesProfessor Wayne HawthorneProfessor of Transplantation, Westmead HospitalProfessor Dominique MartinProfessor of Health Ethics and Professionalism, Deakin UniversityProfessor Syd JohnsonProfessor of Bioethics, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New YorkCredits:Presenter: Peter de KruijffProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Tim SymondsArchives Researcher: Lisa ChidlowThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Gene-edited fish are on the market in Japan, and similar foods could soon be on Australian shelves. But will we want to eat them, how affordable will they be, and what do they even taste like?On this episode of Artificial Evolution, Pete looks at the future of gene editing for consumption, what's on the menu, and whether it’s a sustainable way to feed the world.You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Credits:Presenter: Peter de KruijffProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Richard Girvan/Angie GrantArchives Researcher: Lisa ChidlowThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Earlier this year, a US biotech company claimed it had brought back a long-extinct species - the dire wolf, which roamed ancient America thousands of years ago.And the same editing technology that remade dire wolves could also be used to stop Australian species from going extinct.In episode two of Artificial Evolution, Pete heads to the labs that are safeguarding the genetic material of unique Australian species and working to bring back the thylacine.And visits the researchers working on quolls to make them immune to cane toad toxins and experimenting with putting alpaca genes into endangered frogs to protect them from a deadly fungal disease.As this new field of science opens up opportunities to edit endangered species … can and should we act? And do we have our priorities wrong in tackling species loss and climate change?Artificial Evolution is a four-part series from Science Friction about how gene technologies are changing the world around us.You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Credits:Presenter: Peter de KruijffProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Angie GrantArchives Researcher: Lisa ChidlowThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.