The moon jellyfish has remarkable approach to self-repair. If it loses a limb, it rearranges its remaining body parts to once again become radially symmetric. Humans can’t do that, but a new approach that combines biology with nanotechnology could give our immune systems a boost. Would you drink a beaker of nanobots if they could help you fight cancer?
Also, materials science gets into self-healing with a novel concrete that fixes its own cracks.
Plus, why even the most adaptive systems can be stretched to their limit. New research suggests that the oceans will take a millennium to recover from climate change.
Guests:
- Lea Goentoro – Professor of biology, California Institute of Technology
- Michael Abrams – Biologist, California Institute of Technology
- Sarah Moffitt – Paleo-oceanographer, Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis
- Mark Miodownik – Materials scientist, director of the Institute of Making, University College, London. Author of “Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape our Man-Made World”
- Shawn Douglas – Computer scientist, assistant professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco
Segments:
Part 1: Lea Goentoro and Michael Abrams / Re-Symmetrizing Jellyfish
Part 2: Sarah Moffitt / Marine Biodiversity
Part 3: Mark Miodownik / Self-repairing Concrete
Part 4: Shawn Douglas / Cancer Fighting Nanobots
originally aired August 3, 2015
