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A Rockstar Chemist and Her Cancer-Attacking “Lawn Mower”

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A Rockstar Chemist and Her Cancer-Attacking “Lawn Mower”

People I (Mostly) Admire Podcast

Freakonomics Radio,

5 min read
4 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

How does good science get from academia to the doctor’s office?

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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Visionary
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

She’s exploring the cure for cancer, she used to be in a band with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame, and there’s a very good chance she’ll win a Nobel Prize. Meet Carolyn Bertozzi, chemist, Stanford professor and researcher. In this People I (Mostly) Admire podcast interview, she and Steve Levitt discuss how one takes research results gained in the hallowed halls of academia and transforms those results into the medical therapies and diagnostic tools that will eventually benefit the public.

Summary

Though most cell diagrams don’t contain this detail, animal cells are coated with a layer of complex sugars called glycans. Glycobiology has some potent and surprising applications.

When Stanford professor and researcher Carolyn Bertozzi first heard of glycans, or the layer of complex sugars that coat cells, the analogy went like this: Cells are like a peanut M&M – the peanut in the middle represents “the proteins and stuff” and the cell’s lipids are the chocolate part. And the hard candy shell? Those are the glycans. Glycans, based on the thinking of the 1950s, were there to protect the cell. This outdated theory belies the role glycans can play in the treatment of diseases like tuberculosis and cancer.

Each type of cell in your body has a unique configuration of glycans that function like a barcode. They contain information about the type of cell and the cell’s current situation. Cancer cells, for example, show up with a sudden proliferation of sugars called sialic acids. Sialic acid alters the original configuration of sugar structures on the cell, differentiating it from the healthy cells. 

Subduing sialic acid on a cell’s surface...

About the Podcast

Steven D. Levitt is an economist and best-selling author of the Freakonomics book series. He created and hosts the Freakonomics podcasts, including Freakonomics; Freakonomics, MD; and People I (Mostly) Admire. Guest Carolyn Bertozzi is a chemist. Holder of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford, she created the term “bioorthogonal chemistry” to describe chemical reactions compatible with living systems.

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