The Interactome

What plays in your head when you hear “DNA?” Amir Bitran, postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley AND classical musician, joins Maia, Sam, and Joe to discuss how he composes science-inspired music! Tune in for our joint analysis and play-by-play of excerpts from his piece “When DNA Makes Loops,” and a lively discussion about inspiration, accessibility, the parallels between science and classical music, and the beauty in both. Additionally, we pause a few times to listen to When DNA Makes Loops throughout the episode. Below is a list of the segments of the piece we listen to at each pause. Segment 1: 0:00 - 0:45 Segment 2: 1:08 - 1:40 Segment 3: 2:21 - 3:05 Segment 4: 9:28 - End Links: When DNA Makes Loops: https://soundcloud.com/amir-bitran/when-dna-makes-loops More about Amir’s science and compositions: https://www.amirbitran.com/ The Inner Life of the Cell: https://youtu.be/wJyUtbn0O5Y?si=ja_DqzKIvir59MiR Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:22 Meet Amir! 14:14 What draws Amir to classical music? 23:07 What is science inspired music? 31:02 Segment 1 40:08 Segment 2 45:18 Segment 3 51:59 Segment 4 1:06:15 Outro

Note: This episode was recorded on September 17, 2025. When you think of meteorology, you probably think of someone giving a weather forecast on TV. But predicting the weather requires a whole team of scientists, from those who run simulations in labs to researchers on boats, and even a few who fly planes into storms to get measurements up close. In this episode, we invite Colorado State University graduate student Delián Colón-Burgos to teach us all about forecasting hurricanes. She guides us through the field of hurricane meteorology, from what a hurricane is to how scientists are updating forecasting models to reflect our changing seas. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:23 Introducing Delián! 3:08 What is a Meteorologist? 6:42 Seasonal Forecasting 8:26 How do hurricanes get named? 10:06 Delián's Origin Story 13:32 Defining a Hurricane 24:26 How are storms forecast? 32:13 Delián's work 43:57 Predictions going into hurricane season 49:13 "The Calm Before the Storm" 52:17 Effects of climate change on hurricanes 54:35 Closing thoughts 58:33 Outro

Have you ever wondered how new medications go from being a research project to being safely used in hospitals and clinics around the world? In this episode of the Interactome, host Sam talks about their work on technical challenges in the field of process development. From the different types of therapeutic molecules to how horseshoe crabs keep patients safe, this episode covers many of the steps on the path between a potential medication working in a petri dish to saving lives. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:58 Biotherapeutics vs Small Molecule 13:52 Research Process Lines 20:24 Research Grade Pharmaceuticals vs Pharmaceutical Grade 25:22 Upstream and Downstream 28:47 Suspension vs Adherence of Cells 40:25 Soap 42:14 How do you Know if it's Safe for a Person? 49:57 Clinical Trials 59:50 Getting the Drug into the Person 1:19:59 Conclusion

The age old nature vs. nurture question is complicated, especially when genetics are involved. On this episode, we dive into the concept of “epigenetics,” which translates to “above the genome.” Joe, Sam and Natalie cover how your environment can play a role in how your genes are expressed, how you can have different kinds of cells from the same DNA, and … jello? You’ll walk away with an understanding of why your DNA is a lot more like a cook book than you think. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:04 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 6:19 Licking Rats 9:55 Nature vs Nurture 14:22 The Need for Epigentics 20:36 The Mechanisms of Epigenetics 40:52 Licking Rats Part 2 55:21 Outro

The human brain is arguably the most complex organ in the body - and its hard to do experiments on it in a lab setting without invasive tools like electrodes and injections in the brain itself. But what if we had less invasive tools for understanding the brain in the lab? Join Sarah and Joe as they talk with Schuyler, an MD-PhD candidate, about the wild world of non-invasive neuroengineering... and Dungeons & Dragons! Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Szablowski Lab: https://www.szablowskilab.org/ Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:09 Meet Schuyler! 5:25 What is an MSTP? 7:00 What does everyone do for fun? 14:00 Breaking down Noninvasive Neural Engineering 30:34 When will these techniques be used in clinical trial? 32:58 Acoustically Targeted Chemo Genetics 51:25 Can this be applied to space medicine? 1:01:48 Outro  

When you think of health care, space probably doesn’t come to mind! But the emerging field of space robotics can provide groundbreaking insights to the world of medicine! This episode, Texas A&M robotics engineer Emily Wilkinson  sits down with Natalie and Sarah to discuss her career journey, current research, and her NASA internship (where she met Sarah!). Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Texas A&M RAD Lab: https://rad.engr.tamu.edu/ Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:49 Meet Emily! 2:54 Getting to NASA 11:48 The Internship 15:09 How Emily and Sarah Met 27:20 Emily's Current Job and How She Got There 36:36 Projects That Emily's Lab Does 47:19 A Day in the Life of Emily 1:00:09 Radiation Testing 1:08:53 Outro

Whether it's the city, the suburbs, or somewhere else, have you ever stopped to think about why place where you live is designed the way that it is? That's thanks to urban planners, of which our guest this episode - Angela Lei - is! Join Angela, Sam, and Sarah as they discuss what urban planners and engineers do in terms of zoning, considerations made for pedestrians, and a little bit of history around Boston's Chinatown. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:20 Meet Angela! 3:51 What is Urban Planning/Engineering? 8:53 Exurbs 14:37 Zoning 21:51 Transit Oriented Development (TOD) 30:47 Urban Planning's Impact on the Environment 33:48 Boston's Chinatown 40:46 Defining Borders and Splitting Land 43:37 Pedestrianism and Climate Resiliency 45:38 What Can You do to Impact Urban Planning in Your City 47:00 The Inner Belt and the Highway That Never Was 59:34 Redesigning a City Built for Cars 1:13:20 Outro

What do doctors and astronauts have in common? Turns out, it’s more than you might think! On this episode, Sarah and Maia are joined by Shawna Pandya, MD. Shawna is a physician, astronaut and scientist. Tune in to hear her talk about navigating health care in the most extreme environments, and how she helps patients survive and thrive!   Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com   Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future   Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:47 Meet Shawna! 2:39 How Shawna Became an Astronaut 11:11 Space is Trying to Kill You 18:05 Training for Space 27:00 Other Cool Tech Related to Space Medicine 29:54 Working on a Team of Highly Skilled Individuals 34:29 Shawna's Upcoming Mission 42:30 One Piece of Advice for Aspiring Astronauts 45:30 Outro

AI doesn’t typically make people think of parenting, but when you listen to this episode you’ll be shocked by the similarities! Cole Smith walks us through how to train AI, how it differs from machine learning, and why building an AI system can feel a lot like raising a child. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:15 Meet Cole! 2:32 How Did Cole Get Into This Space? 4:17 What Exactly is AI? 8:42 Classifying AI 11:40 The Difference Between AI and ML 16:34 What is AI Good At? 19:45 What is Generative AI? 32:01 What is a Large Language Model? 34:41 What Can't AI do? 42:49 Bias in AI 53:20 Choosing the Right Model 59:54 Where Does Cole Think AI is Heading? 1:05:38 Outro

Effectively communicating scientific concepts and discoveries is one of the hardest, and most important, ways of bridging gaps between scientists and the general public. But as all things in science, this is easier said than done.  On this episode, Joe, Sam and Natalie chat with New York Times science journalist and bestselling author Jim Robbins. He discusses his approach to writing about untold stories of the natural world, new research, and more. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:02 Meet Jim! 4:45 Science Writing vs Science Research 6:07 What Does Jim Write About? 12:44 Jim's Start: Stories About Grizzly Bears 15:51 California Wildfires 21:22 Making Important Concepts Meaningful 34:02 Navigating the Unknown in Storytelling and in Life 49:56 Challenging the Status Quo 54:13 What Makes a Good Story? 57:04 Maintaining Optimism and Hope 1:03:40 Outro

On this episode of the Interactome, special guest Rasa Valiauga joins Natalie and Sarah to discuss the link that our diet has with our brains. Topics include what foods are considered highly glycemic and what that can mean for our bodies, how diabetes links to our diet, and discussing how to trim the fat from sensationalized diet advice and find the facts. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:44 Meet Rasa! 7:26 Linking Diet to the Brain 12:22 High Glycemic Food 16:01 Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes 20:44 Rasa's Research 31:12 How to Find the Facts in Sensationalized Headlines 39:08 Rasa's Research Part 2 43:18 What Should be Brought to the Diet Conversation? 45:40 Closing Thoughts

You’ve probably heard of the microbiome, but there’s much more to it than just gut health. Tune in to hear from Bridget O’Connor, career microbiologist, for a discussion on the microbiome, how microbiologists study organisms they can’t see, and more! Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:40 Meet Bridget! 10:07 Human Cell Biology vs Microbiology 26:03 Microbiome Misconceptions 35:53 Dysbiosis 37:37 Importance of Strain Variety in Microbiomes 50:36 Some Things That Bridget Wishes More People Knew About Microbiology 54:35 Outro

This week, the Interactome team is joined by Dr. Alex Champagne, Associate Professor of Biology at  University of Southern Indiana! The team talks all things bird physiology — the age old question of flight evolution, interesting anatomical structures, and Dr. Champagne’s current work (which just got published, by the way)! After listening to the episode, read about how skin lipids in desert bats suggest wing and tail membranes are important to evaporation cooling! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1095643324000473 Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:26 Meet Alex! 7:47 Discussing Bird Physiology and its Relationship with Evolution 19:54 Adaptation and Evolution 25:10 Alex's Work 42:23 Archaeopteryx and Microraptor 52:44 Rapid Fire Bird Questions 1:04:31 Outro 1:06:10 BONUS Everyone's Favorite Birds

You've probably heard of AI powered neural networks, but are you familiar with biological neural networks? Join Sam, Natalie, and returning guest Youngmin as they compare, contrast, and generally discuss both types of networks. Can a single neuron "think"? And how do neural networks "learn"? We cover these questions and more on this episode of the interactome. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Youngmin's channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ADHDMathematician Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:25 Meet Youngmin (again!) 2:50 What is a Biological Neural Network? 7:15 Can One Neuron Think? 10:01 Suppressed Ommatidium 16:30 Is the Adaptation to White Noise A Result of a Neural Network? 26:23 Modeling Neurons 29:33 How Does a Neural Network "Learn"? 40:27 Comparing Biological and Artificial Neural Networks 1:00:52 Outro

We all know that protein is something in our food, but what else do proteins do? For our final episode of our 3-part series on the Central Dogma, we discuss (one of) the final products of DNA and RNA: proteins! We cover everything from where proteins come from to some of their roles as molecular machines. Along the way, we touch on topics such as how eating protein helps you make muscles to "the protein fold that kills." Correction: X-ray crystallography shoots high-energy photons (x-rays), not electrons, at crystals to obtain their structure. Sam was probably too excited thinking about electron microscopy to catch his mistake. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:44 What are Proteins? 14:41 How are Proteins Made? 22:42 Protein Folding 30:05 Side Topic on Microscopes 38:19 Protein Regulation 41:49 Protein DB 44:36 When Protein Folding Goes Wrong 54:03 Favorite Proteins 1:0024 Outro

Welcome to our part 2 of the central dogma of biology series! In this episode, Maia, Joe and Natalie talk all things RNA. Tune in to learn about the molecular structure differences between RNA and DNA, mRNA vaccines, and to hear some polarizing biological theories! Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:00 What is RNA? 17:02 RNA Structure 19:53 The RNA World Hypothesis 26:11 Catalysis 28:40 The RNA World Hypothesis Part 2 36:08 Maia's Research on RNA 42:17 Joe's RNA Story 49:19 RNA Current Events 1:00:34 Outro

What’s spookier than identity theft, scams and fraud? In the digital age, cybersecurity is more important than ever. Yet, there are many misconceptions about the field and what it entails. October is cybersecurity month, and to celebrate Sam, Joe and Natalie spoke with SecOp analyst Virginia Gresham. The crew talked about about her role, the importance of protecting your information, and more. Give it a listen, guarantee you’ll learn something new!  Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:15 Meet Virginia! 6:40 Defining cyber security 12:11 Day-to-day incidents 15:00 Phishing 19:00 Incident reports and security policies 24:34 What to do during an incident 30:08 What can happen if you are a victim of a cyber attack? 32:20 Discussion of online privacy 41:00 Ransomware 44:38 Best practices for staying safe online 51:39 Outro

Content Warning: this episode discusses dead bodies, violent crime, and international conflict On this show, we talk a lot about modeling the scientific mindset, but scientists aren’t the only professionals asking tough questions. This week, we’re joined by a retired FBI agent who tells us all about how to ask the right questions and solve problems at hand. Oh, and there’s a surprise connection between our guest and a host, so make sure to tune in! Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Scott's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ExFedHomestead Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:30 Keeping an Open Mind 16:16 Persistence with a Purpose  25:00 Keeping Calm Under Pressure 31:36 It's Ok to Not be an Expert in Everything 42:33 Peer Review vs Judge's Review 46:58 Peer Reviewer #2 49:33 Closing Thoughts 54:06 Outro

In this episode, Joe, Maia, and Natalie talk about genetics. They start with the basics, and then delve into how we get our DNA and how it can change over many many years. You're bound to learn something new with this episode of the interactome! Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Transcript: Margaret Downs Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:27 What is DNA? 11:59 What is a genome? 12:59 What is a gene? 15:53 Introns and Exons 19:18 Promoters and Terminator Sequences 21:54 How you get your DNA 23:51 Genomes Across Species: Plants 29:05 Story time: Where did you first hear about DNA? 30:45 Genomes Across Species 2: Bacteria 34:00 Can genes change? 37:50 How gene mutations play into evolution 46:34 Outro

When we think of science, we often think of data being collected in test tubes and laboratories, but lots of data actually exists in the context of mountains, roads, neighborhoods and countries. Join Joe, Sarah and Natalie and special guest Rylee Wrenner as they discuss Geographic Information Science (GIS), which allows researchers to understand the kinds of data that are best visualized on a map. Along the way, they discuss how to make useful models, the centuries-old origins of GIS in epidemiology, and somehow manage to relate GIS to cheese. Join us to learn about GIS and witness our continuing inexplicable obsession with dairy products. And no, we are not sponsored by the cheese section at Trader Joe's. Seriously, Natalie, I shouldn't have to add this to an episode about GIS. Links: Our Website: https://interactomemedia.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/theinteractome  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactome_media/ Mastodon: @interactome@universeodon.com Credits: Audio/Video Editing: Sam Pickell Artwork: Maia Reyes Intro/Outro Music: Geovane Bruno - Dancing In The Future Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:38 Meet Rylee 5:12 What is GIS? 12:28 Applications of GIS 13:45 Accessing and using GIS 17:17 Rylee's work 19:39 What disciplines are involved in GIS? 22:43 What do you need to get started with GIS? 25:03 Obtaining good data for GIS 28:29 Data privacy 34:57 The cheese party 36:34 What makes a good model? 38:52 Rylee's long-term GIS goals 40:58 Final thoughts 43:52 Outro