Episódios
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How many medicines can you think of created for just one person? The likelihood is none - which is why the world hasn’t heard of milasen yet. But its creation, and the efforts behind it, could build a pathway towards some of the greatest advances in genomic medicine, and a new initiative being trialled in Britain has a huge role to play in making this happen.
At the age of seven, Mila Makovec became the first person in the world to be treated with a medicine created just for her. A bubbly young girl from Colorado, Mila suffered from a very rare genetic disorder called Batten disease, which leads to a painful early death in children. Mila’s mother, Julia Vitarello, resolutely sought out scientists to try to discover a way to save her daughter. After relentless efforts, one doctor, Timothy Yu from Boston Children’s Hospital, imagined a possible treatment for Mila. The challenge was it involved making a completely unique treatment for Mila’s specific genetic mutation. It would be novel and very expensive - but it was her only option. Julia raised the millions of dollars required through a charity she set up in her daughter’s name, and in 2018 Mila became the one patient in the world to receive the drug milasen.
Initially, it worked, and Mila’s condition stabilised and improved. However, the treatment was given after the disease had done a great deal of damage to a small child, and Mila died when she was ten years old.
There are an estimated 7,000 rare diseases in the world, affecting more than 400 million people - and most are genetic. The majority have no effective treatment. New medicines for these conditions can’t be put through clinical trials on groups of patients because they are so rare. So, currently, such novel therapeutics can only be legally given after lengthy and costly work that is uncommercial for drug firms.
Having got so achingly close to saving her daughter, Mila’s mother is now leading efforts to make these new genetic medicines available to other children with rare diseases - and Britain is where her campaign is about to take a huge step forward.
The launch of the Rare Therapies Launch Pad is bringing together efforts from Mila’s Miracle Foundation, the UK medicine’s regulator the MHRA, Genomics England and Oxford University in an world leading attempt to build a new streamlined regulatory pathway to allow one-off drugs to be designed and approved for use in individual patients with rare diseases.
Natasha Loder, Health Editor at the Economist, tells this very personal story of how one mother’s determination to try and save her daughter could lead to a revolution in personalised medicine - one that has the potential to bring hope to millions of families.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal
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Take a trip around the supermarket and you'll see shelves of products claiming to be 'high in protein'. Scroll through your social media and you'll find beautiful, sculpted people offering recipes and ideas for packing more protein into your diet.
Science presenters Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber have noticed this too. They wanted to unpick the protein puzzle to find out what it does in our bodies and how much we really need. Can this macronutrient really help us lose weight, get fit and be healthier?
Along the way, they speak to Professor Giles Yeo from the University of Cambridge, Bridget Benelam from the British Nutrition Foundation, Paralympian hopeful Harrison Walsh, and food historian Pen Vogler.
Presenters: Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella HubberProducer: Alice Lipscombe-SouthwellEditor: Martin Smith
Credits: @thefitadam/@TSCPodcast/@tadhgmoody/@meg_squats/@aussiefitness
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Victoria Uwonkunda makes an emotional journey back to Rwanda, where she grew up. It’s the first time she’s visited since the age of 12, when she fled the 1994 genocide with her family.
Victoria retraces her journey to safety out of the capital Kigali, to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Along the way Victoria speaks to survivors of the violence – both victims and perpetrators – to find out how the country is healing, through reconciliation and forgiveness.
Victoria meets Evariste and Narcisse, who work together on a reconciliation project called Cows for Peace. Evariste killed Narcisse’s mother during the 1994 genocide. Cows are important in the Rwandan culture. Evariste and Narcisse explain their own journeys to forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. And Victoria meets Claudette, who suffered unimaginable horrors at the hands of a man, Jean Claude, sitting next to her as she tells her story.
Victoria Uwonkunda finds that Rwanda, and its people, are healing. There are those who say that the steps Rwanda has taken do not go far enough and question freedom of expression in Rwanda. But Victoria finds hope in the country, a desire to move on for a younger generation – and she finds her own peace with the country that she was born in.
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One baffling online scam – involving a £138 dehumidifier – and a humiliated BBC producer who will not rest until she has a return address for it.
January 2024. Polly Weston’s toddler has a terrible cough, no one in the house is getting any sleep, and, as is traditional for Bristol Victorian Terraces, her house has a lot of damp patches. So she decides to invest in a dehumidifier.
A very convincing review online, by a real consumer journalist called Luke Edwards, recommends one company.
The company's sleek website reads “Dewett UK – Better Air, Better Life.”
Sold. She orders one for £138… Then it begins.
Luke, it turns out, had his identity stolen. Day after day he receives the same desperate phone calls from people across Britain who have fallen victim to his “byline”. The story is always the same. Once the dehumidifier arrives, it doesn’t work, and you can’t return it – Dewett will not give you a return address. It's come from China, they say, and there is no point in you sending it back. The email exchanges become increasingly wild.
But what starts out as the story of one BBC producer, on a vendetta to find a return address (and to prove, despite being duped, she’s still a good journalist)… will take us to corners of the world we never could have predicted. It might just end in us accidentally blowing the lid on something much, much bigger...
Produced and presented by Polly WestonA BBC Audio Bristol production
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To mark the centenary of the Greenwich Time Signal on the BBC, Paddy O'Connell asks the unaskable - Do We Still Need the Pips?
First broadcast at 9.30pm on Feb the 5th 1924, the six pips of the Greenwich Time Signal have become synonymous with Radio 4. But today digital broadcasting has rendered this time signal delayed and inaccurate. Plus their immovable presence can cause accidents on-air, and no-one wants to crash the Pips. So after 100 years, should Radio 4 just get rid of them? What is the point of a time signal in 2024 anyway?
Paddy O'Connell looks back across a century of organised beeps, and meets the people who listen to, broadcast and sometimes crash in to the Pips to find out what we really think about these six little characters. With interviews including Mishal Husain, Robin Ince & Brian Cox, Jane Steel, Richard Hoptroff, Jon Holmes and David Rooney.
Produced by Luke Doran.Original music by Ed Carter.
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Following on from the success of Green Inc and with the same bold, provocative and entirely un-switchoffable energy, writer, comedian and satirist Heydon Prowse turns his tongue-in-cheek attention corporate Wokewashing.
From a razor company talking about #MeToo to an LGBT sandwich and a burger chain tackling depression, writer and satirist Heydon Prowse unpacks how some of the world's biggest corporations are falling over themselves to appear socially conscious, progressive. And he lifts the lid on the advertising and PR companies who've woken up to just how much money they can make helping them.
In this first episode, Pride Before a Fall?, Heydon investigates corporations’ approach to LGBTQ+ inclusivity. He’ll trace the history from brands’ first engagements with gay customers to the situation today, where Pride month sees the high street and social media festooned with corporate rainbow flags. Heydon will ask how many companies live up to this inclusive message in actions. This episode will also take a look at the backlash to brand engagement with LGBTQ+ issues that has been seen in the UK and the USA as the corporate world is drawn into the culture wars. It’s led to boycotts and hasty backpedalling, but what’s really going on, and why?
To listen to the rest of the series, just search for Wokewash on BBC Sounds.
Contributors:Peter Tatchell, Activist and Director of the Peter Tatchell FoundationProf Alison Taylor of New York University's Stern Business School and author of 'Higher Ground: How Businesses Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World.'Rain Dove, Model and ActvistAndrew Doyle, Comedian, GB News Presenter and author of The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World.
Producer: Sam Peach
Archive Credited To:
John Sloman (Youtube)Dove US (Youtube)raindovemodel (instagram)dylanmulvaney (instagram)Make Yourself At Home Podcast by NinesBen Shapiro (Youtube)CNN WKMG NewsKid Rock (X)
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Since it gained Independence in 1956 Sudan has had at least 2 major civil wars. The last one resulted in Southern Sudan becoming an Independent state in 2011. The latest civil war broke out last April between two rival factions of the military government, the Sudanese Army Force (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF. Thousands have been killed and the country is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis. Why aren't we hearing more about it? James Copnall, former BBC Sudan Correspondent finds out what exactly is going on from historians, personal testimony, government and humanitarian aid agencies.
Presenter: James CopnallProducer: Julie BallEditor: Tara McDermott
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Four years ago, one of America’s most progressive states passed the country’s boldest approach to drug policy reform yet. Measure 110 came after a spirited campaign targeting the country’s failed war on drugs.
The new law decriminalised possession of all illicit substances, including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine . The reformers accurately predicted that the new law would result in fewer people of colour being locked up, but it also coincided with the new spread of the deadly drug fentanyl, and a tidal wave of homelessness.
Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is far more deadly. Social workers and police now regularly carry the opioid-blocking drug Narcan to treat people overdosing on the streets. Homelessness also continues to rise alongside the drug’s rampage, creating an epidemic on multiple fronts.
In A Reckoning with Drugs in Oregon, local journalist Winston Ross explores the complex issues behind Portland’s fentanyl crisis and lawmakers’ recent decision to roll back Measure 110, speaking across the political divide and to many of those in the eye of the storm.
Presented by Winston RossProduced by James Tindale
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
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Following wide ranging farmers' protests across Europe, now British farmers are starting to show their discontent with thousands of farmers meeting in Wales, as well as protests taking place in England.
BBC Radio 4 Farming Today's Charlotte Smith joins farmers as they are protesting and asks if the industry is now at breaking point.
Will the new promise by the prime minister to ensure food production is supported, and not just environmental work, be enough to appease English farmers? And has the Welsh First Minister's comments that farmers can not simply decide themselves what to do with millions in subsidies, just inflamed the situation further?
With so many demands on our land, from capturing carbon to reversing the biodiversity loss, is there still space for farmers to produce food profitably in the UK?
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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All along Russia’s border, in former Soviet republics, the Ukrainian war has prompted a new, more assertive sense of national identity. They’re asking whether – despite independence – they’ve really overcome the legacy of 'Russian colonialism.'
Meanwhile activists from the many ethnic minorities inside Russia are increasingly describing themselves as victims of colonialism too - and demanding self-determination. The debate about the 'imperial' nature of Russia has now also been taken up by strategists, politicians and scholars in the West. Many are questioning their own previous 'Russocentric' assumptions, and asking whether 'decolonising' Russia is the only way to stop the country threatening its neighbours - and world peace.
But some also wonder whether the term 'decolonisation' is really relevant to Russia – and what it means. Is it about challenging the '0imperial mindset' of its rulers – and perhaps of every ordinary Russian? Or perhaps it means dismembering the country itself? Or, as some claim, is the very idea of 'decolonising Russia' just part of an attempt by the West to extend its own neo-colonialist influence? Tim Whewell dissects a new and vital controversy with the help of historians, thinkers and activists from Russia and its neighbours, the West and the Global South.
Sound mixing by Hal HainesProduction coordinators: Sabine Schereck, Maria Ogundele, Katie MorrisonEditor: Richard Fenton SmithExtract from "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A A Milne, read by Alan Bennett
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In September 2023 permission was given to develop Rosebank, the UK’s largest untapped oil field. Located west of Shetland, the UK government says it will provide energy security in the UK for a whole generation, at a time where we have never felt more insecure about the source of our energy and the cost. But will it?
A feat of modern engineering, with the latest technology used to create it. Once operational, where is all this money, and oil, going to flow? And how does this fit into a commitment to transition from a dependency on fossil fuels to greener alternatives?
There’s a lot at stake with this new oil field: jobs, investment, income, and oil, of course.
There are so many questions about how oil and gas works in terms of its relationship to the UK, yet surprisingly few clear answers. This programme will help fill in the blanks.
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Jewellery can tell us so much about people - the ones that wore it, and the ones that made it. It reveals something about status, or power, or belief systems - religion and relationships. There's so many interesting things that you can uncover about a person, or a group of people, by their jewellery. This makes it an incredibly useful tool for forensic analysis.
Dr Maria Maclennan, is the world's first, and currently only, Forensic Jeweller. In this show, we accompany Maria to the Evros region of Greece, where she, along with her team of Dr Jan Bikker, Professor Pavlidis Pavlos and Filmmaker Harry Lawson, are using the forensic analysis of jewellery to identify deceased migrants.
The goal is to give back a name to many of the missing and unidentified who sadly lose their lives trying to enter Europe.
A single piece of jewellery can unlock an entire identity.
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Ireland correspondent Chris Page looks at the growth of Sinn Féin across the island of Ireland over the last 30 years and explores how it has achieved that. He examines the party's current aims and policies, from housing to the economy. And he asks, given the current trend in the polls, what the implications might be of the party being in government in two jurisdictions - in Belfast and in Dublin.
Presenter: Chris PageProducer: Camellia SinclairLead broadcast engineer: Ilse Lademann
Credit: "Two Tribes", RTÉ One, 22nd December 2022
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We’re a nation obsessed with genealogy. Millions of us are gripped by TV shows like 'Who Do You Think You Are', where genealogists show celebrities their famous ancestors - like Danny Dyer being descended from Edward III, the first Plantagent King! But what if Danny doesn’t get exclusive bragging rights? With the help of mathematician Hannah Fry and Habsburg Royal Historian professor Martyn Rady, population geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford sets out to prove that we're all descended from royalty, revealing along the way that family trees are not the perfect tool for tracing your heritage. But can it really be true? Can we all be descended from Henry VIII or Charlemagne!?
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In 2018, within a few months of each other, Katie Allan and William Lindsay took their own lives at Polmont Young Offenders Institution in Scotland. There have been nine suicides at Polmont since 2012 and the overall suicide rate in Scottish prisons is at a record high.
Katie's mum Linda believes many of these deaths were avoidable. She was told by the Crown Office that there were sufficient grounds for prosecuting the Scottish Prison Service for potential failures of duty of care to both Katie and William, but they couldn't proceed because, unlike the police, the NHS, or even a private prison, the prison service has immunity from prosecution.
With a Fatal Accident Inquiry about to open into Katie and William's deaths, Linda has little faith it will hold the prison accountable.
Dani Garavelli Presenter and ResearcherLiza Greig ProducerElizabeth Clark Executive Producer
BBC Scotland Productions for BBC Radio 4
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When journalists tell stories, they rarely start at the beginning but instead with the latest development. Context comes towards the end. It’s called the ‘inverted pyramid’.
When scandal at the Confederation of British Industry hit the newspapers and boss Tony Danker was dismissed, he complained that articles didn’t state right at the start that he was not accused of the worst misconduct. If you didn’t make it much past the headlines, you might not realise that. We discover why journalists write stories ‘the wrong way up’, how that affects how we understand them, and how that might change with new technology.
‘How to Read the News’ - this series is all about giving you the tools to decode the news.
Presenter: Jo FidgenProducer: Charlotte McDonaldResearchers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Kirsteen KnightEditors: China Collins, Emma Rippon
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In 2019, Elvis Presley Enterprises threatened to deconstruct Graceland and move it to Saudi Arabia, Tokyo, or whoever was the highest bidder. Artist, writer, KLF member and money burner - Bill Drummond - realised something had to be done. Bill's relationship with Northern Ireland began before his relationship with Elvis - but at some junction, these two relationships were bound to collide. It seems the Curfew Tower at the junction of the crossroads in the village of Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim is where this collision will be taking place.
Producer: Conor Garrett
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Ronnie Helvy is on his way for a screening test. He's in his sixties and wants an assessment to check for a variety of cancers. He isn't currently displaying any symptoms but is seeking reassurance. His blood will undergo a series of tests in exchange for over a thousand pounds. The outcome might be able to determine whether he is susceptible to cancers that some of his family have died from. It sounds like a good thing. Or is it?
Advances in health screening have allowed us to see far into our bodies' future. During the pandemic home testing became an everyday routine. The same technology has helped develop new tools that can sequence our DNA quickly. Simple tests are making the process less intrusive than ever before.
These improvements have also seen the development of a number of major national screening programmes. Including Our Future Health and the UK Biobank. Both of these are large scale research studies to help researchers prevent chronic health conditions. They could also inform the NHS on how to implement generalised screening across more of the population.
Private health clinics are also offering health check-ups -- tests that could spot future warning signs. Home-testing kits can be ordered from the internet. But what does this information tell us? And is it information we can trust? We look at whether the private industry is acting responsibly when it comes to genetic testing.
The BBC's Health Correspondent Matthew Hill finds out whether screening programmes can really help us live both better and longer lives. And he asks: can diagnosing conditions decades before they might affect us cause more harm than good?
The promise of diagnosing conditions early is an exciting one. But there are fears among some health professionals that more screening might not be entirely helpful.
We take a look at what lessons from the past could tell us about the current surge in screening. And we consider some of the dilemmas it might present us with.
Presenter: Matthew HillProducer: Robbie WojciechowskiEditor: Richard Collings
Contributors:Dr Paul Cornes, Oncologist and International Advisor on cancerProf. Clare Turnbull, Division of Genetics and Epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer ResearchHelen Wallace, Deputy Director of GeneWatch UKProf Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and the UK’s Life Sciences Champion
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The inside story of art in hotel rooms - and why hoteliers think it's so important to get it right. Ian McMillan has always been fascinated by the artworks he finds on his travels. Here he encounters mass produced flowers, abstract excitement and ancient artefacts. In three very different hotel bedrooms he meets curators, designers and artists - but most importantly he meets the art, and asks why we have ‘art’ hotels .
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Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins. Rolling with the order established by Pope Gregory the Great, first up is pride, followed by greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and (finally) lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?
Pride - also known as the "original sin" - is now a bit of a double-edged word. The good side is motivating and self-affirming: to be proud of your work, your kids, or your identity. But then there’s the ugly side of pride: thinking you’re better than others. Arrogance, narcissism, an inflated sense of superiority. How can we have one without the other? Confidence without arrogance? Self-worth without self-aggrandisement?
To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Professor Ian Robertson from the Department of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, self-aware narcissist and motivational speaker Lee Hammock, Professor Jessica Tracy from the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a parade of people at a Pride march.
Producer: Becky Ripley
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