This episode explores the fascinating history and science behind GLP1 receptor agonists, their development from animal venom to life-changing diabetes and obesity treatments, and the importance of basic research in medical breakthroughs.

In this episode, Dr. Alexia Groff discusses her groundbreaking research on expressing mammalian myoglobin in plants using chloroplast transformation. We explore the implications for food production, biosecurity, and future applications in meat substitutes and nutritional enhancement. Chloroplast inheritance reduces gene flow risk, enhancing biosafety. Heterologous expression in plants can produce functional animal proteins.

This episode explores the cutting-edge advancements in ALS diagnostics and treatment, highlighting how AI and digital health are transforming patient care and research. Guest Indo Navar shares her journey from Silicon Valley entrepreneurship to pioneering innovative solutions for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.

In this episode, Kevin Folta interviews Dr. Erik Ingelsson about innovative RNA-based therapies for obesity, focusing on the potential of silencing RNA and gene editing to target visceral fat and improve metabolic health.

The debate continues on organic vs conventional farming. Cameron and Kevin give their views on this growing subject!

In this episode, Kevin Folta interviews Dr. Colette Delawalla about the threats to scientific integrity posed by recent political and administrative changes. They discuss the importance of federal funding, the impact of proposed policies, and how the scientific community can respond to defend science and democracy. You Can Help Change the Federal Government views!!

Celebrating 500 episodes of Talking Biotech, Kevin Folta interviews Dr. Scott Angle, University of Florida Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources, to explore the future of agriculture, AI innovations, and Florida's agricultural landscape. Discover insights on technology, workforce development, and sustainable farming practices.

In this episode of Talking Biotech, we explore cutting-edge biotech tools that are transforming how we detect and address indoor environmental health issues, particularly mold and microbes. With new, highly sensitive methods, we're moving beyond traditional inspection techniques to more precise, source-level detection—crucial for health outcomes.

Plants can't get up and walk away from stress or predators, so they've evolved sensitive systems to sense and in some cases anticipate changes in their environment. Now, there's sensors to light, to humidity, to touch, to gravity, to dozens of other prevailing factors that push information from the external environment into the nucleus, shaping gene expression and adapting. To that change. Now, the fun part about this in today's era of synthetic biology is that the plant sensor and response systems are basically a toolbox. They're a template for synthetic innovation, as we can use their sense and response systems to work for us. Now, a number of plant-based sensors have been developed over the years. We're speaking with Dr. Neil Stewart. He's the professor in the plant department of plant sciences at the University of Tennessee and also the co-director of agricultural synthetic biology. So you've invented a potato plant that senses radiation to let us know it's there. So why do we need a plant radiation sensor?

The proteins that give cheese its unique elasticity and eating quality are challenging to create outside of the cow.  However, the team at Mozza has developed a method to generate the milk proteins in soybeans, exploiting the potential massive scale of field crop production, and providing a dairy-free source of these important proteins. Today's podcast interviews Adam Tarshis and Dr. Cory Tobin from Mozza.