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Genes: Our medical inheritance

Cultural discussion show. Andrew Marr on medicine and genomes with Siddhartha Mukherjee, Emily Mayhew, Giles Yeo and Aarathi Prasad.

On Start the Week Andrew Marr traces the quest to decipher the human genome. The idea of a 'unit of heredity' first emerged at the end of the 19th century: cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee recounts the history of the gene and the latest research into genetic heredity and mutation. Giles Yeo looks at what genes can tell us about body weight, while Aarathi Prasad explores how India practises medicine - from cutting-edge science to traditional healing. The historian Emily Mayhew traces the medical breakthroughs that have emerged from the battlefield, from World War I to the conflict in Afghanistan.
Producer: Katy Hickman.

Available now

43 minutes

Siddhartha Mukherjee

is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and a cancer geneticist.

The Gene: An Intimate History is published by Bodley Head.

Giles Yeo

is a geneticist at the University of Cambridge.

The 91热爆 Horizon documentary, Why Are We Getting So Fat?, will be broadcast on Tuesday 7 June at 9.00pm on 91热爆 Two.

Emily Mayhew

is a military medical historian at Imperial College London.

The Science Museum is commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme with an exhibition, Wounded: Conflict, Casualties and Care, at the end of the month.

Aarathi Prasad

is a biologist and writer.

In The Bonesetter鈥檚 Waiting-Room: Travels through Indian Medicine is published by Profile Books in association with Wellcome Collection.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Andrew Marr
Interviewed Guest Siddhartha Mukherjee
Interviewed Guest Emily Mayhew
Interviewed Guest Giles Yeo
Interviewed Guest Aarathi Prasad
Producer Katy Hickman

Broadcasts

  • Mon 6 Jun 2016 09:00
  • Mon 6 Jun 2016 21:30

Podcast