The Fix is In

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

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