Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Series
  • People
  • Depts & Colleges
  • Open Education

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Series
  • People
  • Depts & Colleges
  • Open Education

'Light' Part 3 - How does sunlight damage DNA?

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
Audio Embed
Once we've received our genetic make-up from our parents our genomes are stable, right? What causes mutations in our DNA as we live and grow, and how do our cells repair damage?
We all know we should be careful when in the sun, but Prof Catherine Green's interests lie in understanding how Human cells manage to copy the enormous amounts of DNA they have without making mistakes and how they cope with threats; like sunlight. Cath describes what happens when DNA gets damaged and how her work seeks to understand the cellular machinery involved in copying and repairing DNA. She also discusses other threats and risks, how other animals protect themselves from sunlight and how understanding these processes better will help us understand disorders, everyone's risks and develop more targeted treatments.

More in this series

View Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks

'Light' Part 2 - Harnessing a single photon

What's the use of just one photon, the smallest bit of light? And what does it take to study it?
Previous
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks

The Canary in the Coal Mine: could seabirds be the warning signs for our oceans?

Dr Annette Fayet tells us about the Manx Shearwater; a little seabird that makes a huge journey.
Next

Episode Information

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
People
Catherine Green
Keywords
Medicine
cancer
molecular biology
biology
mutations
sunlight
dna damage
genome stability
research
science
experiments
treatments
Department: Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS)
Date Added: 03/08/2016
Duration: 00:12:06

Subscribe

Apple Podcast Audio Audio RSS Feed

Download

Download Audio

Footer

  • About
  • Accessibility
  • Contribute
  • Copyright
  • Contact
  • Privacy
'Oxford Podcasts' Twitter Account @oxfordpodcasts | MediaPub Publishing Portal for Oxford Podcast Contributors | Upcoming Talks in Oxford | © 2011-2022 The University of Oxford