Science Of The Times

Proteins are the workhorses of life, with thousands overseeing and getting involved in reactions within our cells. Biologists have long dreamed of being able to make designer proteins to do specific tasks, and recently a team of  scientists have made this happen. Syma and Tim talk to researchers who designed, and then made, a protein that neutralises a type of snake venom. In the first release we talk to Susana Vázquez and Tim Jenkins who were key members of the team, and in the second release, on Sunday, we chat with David Baker who was one of the recipients of 2024 Nobel prize for Chemistry for de novo protein design.

The paper is available here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08393-x

Creators and Guests

Host
Syma Khalid
Professor of Computational Microbiology at University of Oxford
Host
Tim Coulson
Author of The Universal History of Us published by Penguin 2024 Professor of Zoology, University of Oxford EcologyEvolution, Existence, Science
Guest
Susana Vazquez
My project is focused on using de novo TIM barrels scaffolds to create novel metalloenzymes
Guest
Tim Jenkins
Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine Center for Antibody Technologies

What is Science Of The Times?

Do you want to learn a little more about topical science findings? Do many of the science stories you hear leave you with unanswered questions? Syma and Tim will discuss in non-technical language and in a fun and engaging style, recently published science findings. Guests will be authors of these papers and will include some of the world’s most exciting scientists who are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge. Covering, among other things, artificial intelligence, the search for alien life, the latest treatments for diseases, quantum computers, the science of football and topics requested by listeners, the half hour episodes will leave listeners feeling a little more knowledgeable about cutting-edge science and how scientists make discoveries.