PostHole
Compose
Login
The Life Scientific: Anne Ferguson-Smith
Our genes can tell us so much about us, from why we look the way we look, think the way we think, even what kind of diseases we might be likely to suffer from. But our genes aren't the whole story. There are other, complex and intriguing systems within every cell in our bodies which control which of our tens-of-thousands of genes are switched on, or off, in different parts of the body, and under different circumstances.
Welcome to the fascinating world of 'epigenetics', which our guest, the molecular geneticist Anne Ferguson-Smith, describes as 'genetics with knobs on'.
Anne, now Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Cambridge, tells Jim Al-Khalili about her life and work. She's spent her professional life at the cutting edge: from a degree in a brand new field of Molecular Biology, to post-grad working on brand new genetic structures, through to a lifetime of discoveries and breakthroughs which have changed our understanding of the genome.
Yet she wasn't always destined to be a scientist. She says she was a 'bad student' for a lot of her early life, and believes that embracing failure is an essential part of being a working scientist.
(Image: Anne Ferguson Smith. Credit: Anne Ferguson Smith)
Accessibility links
BBC World Service
Discovery
- Discovery Home
- Episodes
- Galleries
- Podcast
- Join us on Facebook
Main content
Listen now
The Life Scientific: Anne Ferguson-Smith
Discovery
Anne Ferguson-Smith on unravelling epigenetics.
Our genes can tell us so much about us, from why we look the way we look, think the way we think, even what kind of diseases we might be likely to suffer from. But our genes aren't the whole story. There are other, complex and intriguing systems within every cell in our bodies which control which of our tens-of-thousands of genes are switched on, or off, in different parts of the body, and under different circumstances.
Welcome to the fascinating world of 'epigenetics', which our guest, the molecular geneticist Anne Ferguson-Smith, describes as 'genetics with knobs on'.
Anne, now Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Cambridge, tells Jim Al-Khalili about her life and work. She's spent her professional life at the cutting edge: from a degree in a brand new field of Molecular Biology, to post-grad working on brand new genetic structures, through to a lifetime of discoveries and breakthroughs which have changed our understanding of the genome.
Yet she wasn't always destined to be a scientist. She says she was a 'bad student' for a lot of her early life, and believes that embracing failure is an essential part of being a working scientist.
(Image: Anne Ferguson Smith. Credit: Anne Ferguson Smith)
###
####
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now
27 minutes
Last on
Tue 15 Aug 2023
19:32GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
More episodes
Previous
The Life Scientific: Bruce Malamud
Next
The Life Scientific: Anne-Marie Imafidon
See all episodes from Discovery
Broadcasts
Mon 14 Aug 2023
19:32GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa & BBC Afghan Radio
Tue 15 Aug 2023
04:32GMT
BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean, Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
Tue 15 Aug 2023
12:32GMT
BBC World Service except East Asia & South Asia
Space
The eclipses, spacecraft and astronauts changing our view of the Universe
The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry
[The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry]
A pair of scientific sleuths answer your perplexing questions. Ask them anything!
Podcast
Discovery
Explorations in the world of science.
Similar programmes
By genre:
- Factual > Science & Nature
By format:
Magazines & Reviews
[BBC World Service homepage]
News in more than 40 languages