Distillations | Science History Institute

Alexis Pedrick joins Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti to bring you an episode from Tiny Matters , an award-winning podcast from the American Chemical Society produced by Multitude. The episode, which originally aired in February 2026, explores the surprising origins and evolution of one of modern medicine's most important tools: the clinical trial. Tiny Matters follows the development of experimen...

This episode is a co-production with Lost Women of Science . Agnes Pockels did pioneering work in surface science. Her invention, the Pockels Trough, became the basis for an instrument that helped Katherine Burr Blodgett and Irving Langmuir make discoveries in material science that quietly shape our everyday world.  But the way we talk about Agnes's life and work often falls back on familiar trope...

Alexis Pedrick joins Katie Hafner to bring you an episode from The Lost Women of Science Initiative , a non-profit educational organization dedicated to telling the forgotten or untold stories of remarkable female scientists and their groundbreaking work through history.  The episode, which originally aired in October 2023, is about Flemmie Kittrell, the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Home Eco...

In 2018 news broke that a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, had used CRISPR to edit human embryos, and twin girls had been born as a result. The story set off an explosive bioethical controversy. As gene editing expert Kiran Musunuru put it, "He Jiankui's genetic misadventures were the biggest medical story of the century so far." Both scientists and the public had a lot of questions. What was the un...

The fears about genetic engineering were stoked when experiments took off in the 1970s. From lab leaks to disease epidemics to the ability to make "Frankenstein creations," many of those fears are still with us today. We talk to author Surekha Davies about her latest book, why she thinks of monsters as category breakers and why blurring boundaries can be so terrifying for us, but maybe doesn't hav...

Our producer Rigoberto Hernandez spoke with Robin Marantz, the author of Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution . She tells us about the history of IVF, from the first known artificial insemination by donor produced in Philadelphia in the 19th century to the scientific race in the 1960s and 1970s that resulted in the first so-called "test-tube baby." Cre...

When Rebekah and Evan Lockard's daughter, Naomi, was diagnosed with a devastating ultra-rare genetic disease, they didn't know where to turn. Then they found Terry Pirovolakis, an IT professional who had made a gene therapy for his son with the same disease. But the process of getting Naomi treated has been an uphill battle, full of financial and logistical obstacles. The Lockard's story flips the...

Gene therapy is based on a simple-sounding, yet deceptively complicated premise: adding or replacing faulty genes to fix medical problems. A compelling idea that came out of breakthroughs in DNA research, the field grew lightning fast. But the death of teenager Jesse Gelsinger after a gene therapy clinical trial left the public and scientists questioning the field's promise.  Why did researchers p...

Producer Mariel Carr talks to historian of science and former Science History Institute fellow, Luis Campos , about his article " Strains of Andromeda: The Cosmic Potential Hazards of Genetic Engineering. " He shares how Michael Crichton's first novel and the subsequent film influenced the conversation and controversy around recombinant DNA research in the 1970s. Credits Host:  Alexis Pedrick Exec...

In 1976, Harvard University wanted to build a specialized lab for recombinant DNA research. But first, it had to get permission from the city of Cambridge. The resulting city council hearings drew TV stations and captured the attention of the whole country. At the center of the controversy? A wise-talking mayor, a young outspoken molecular biologist, and an important question: in scientific resear...

Genetic engineering breakthroughs in the late 1960s and early 1970s came with a lot of promise—and peril too. Fears about what could happen with recombinant DNA experiments put scientists in the middle of a moral dilemma. Did they have a responsibility to consider how  others might use their work? Or was their place simply to be on the lab bench? In this two-part episode, we'll share the story abo...

Genetic engineering breakthroughs in the late 1960s and early 1970s came with a lot of promise—and peril too. Fears about what could happen with recombinant DNA experiments put scientists in the middle of a moral dilemma. Did they have a responsibility to consider how  others might use their work? Or was their place simply to be on the lab bench? In this two-part episode, we'll share the story abo...

Check out our new season, dropping weekly on Tuesdays, starting August 5th.

Feeding kids a healthy lunch every school day is a feat of science and logistics. Molded into shape by nutrition scientists who wanted to optimize children's health, the school lunch has endured war, economic depression, and even a global pandemic. Some might say it's all the stronger for it. So how did all these crises shape school lunch? And is there any room to give our rectangle pizzas and fro...

ALS is a fatal neurological disease that kills motor neurons. Even though it was first described more than 150 years ago, there is no cure, and the few drugs available only dampen the symptoms or slow the progression by a few months. In recent years new drugs have emerged. However, there is one problem: the life expectancy is just two to five years after diagnosis. This timeline is incompatible wi...

In 1973 a bombshell study appeared in the premier scientific journal Science . It was called "On Being Sane in Insane Places." Its author, a Stanford psychology professor named David Rosenhan, claimed that by faking their way into psychiatric hospitals, he and eight other pseudo-patients had proven that psychiatrists were unable to diagnose mental illness accurately. Psychiatrists panicked, and, a...

For more than 100 years, biologists who suggested that some cancers may be caused by viruses were the pariahs of genetics. However, they persevered and incrementally built their knowledge, leading to the discovery of retroviruses, the development of a test to diagnose HIV, and the creation of the HPV vaccine. Join us as we interview Gregory J. Morgan about his book  Cancer Virus Hunters: A History...

In 1973 biochemist Bruce Ames created a simple test that showed if chemicals had the potential to cause cancer. The Ames test made him a hero of the emerging environmental movement. But then he completely changed course and said concerns about chemicals were overblown. So what happened? Did Ames change? Or did our understanding of what causes cancer change? Featured Oral History Bruce N. Ames, "Br...

Ozempic and others in this family of drugs are nothing short of miraculous. Meant to treat Type 2 Diabetes, the drug exploded in popularity after researchers found that patients were reporting losing 15-21% of their body weight in clinical trials. There were some side effects, but none so severe that it raised concerns. Doctors began prescribing it to people who weren't diabetic but could benefit...

The impact of cars on wildlife extends beyond roadkill, affecting species that never venture near roads. Car noise disrupts bird communication and behavior, and tire and brake dust from pollutes waterways with microplastics. In this wide-ranging interview, we talk to the author of  Traffication: How Cars Destroy Nature and What We Can Do About It , Paul Donald about how he coined the term "traffic...

In 1856, Henry Perkin's attempt to synthesize quinine led to something very different: a vibrant purple dye. Perkin's mauve revolutionized the fashion industry when Queen Victoria wore a dress of the color to her daughter's wedding. And in an ironic twist, synthetic fabric dyes ultimately led to synthetic drugs, including the first antipsychotic. This drug, known by its trade name Thorazine, was a...

The color pink has long been in vogue, and when Barbie hit theaters in 2023, its appeal only increased. But its popularity dates back much further than the Mattel doll. In this bonus episode, Dr. Dominique Grisard, a gender studies professor at the University of Basel, discusses the hue and its ties to femininity, class, and Whiteness, as well as how pink has been used to subdue men in detention c...

For centuries people have been drawn to the potential healing powers of colored light. From a civil war general to a Thomas Edison wannabe, people have touted it as a medical miracle. Despite claims to the contrary, though, colored light won't regrow limbs or heal burns. And yet, we are still drawn to the idea that somehow it can fix us. Today there are actual medical studies investigating the hea...

In his epic poem, The   Odyssey , Homer mentions the colors black, white, red, and yellow. But despite numerous mentions of the brilliant Greek sea and sky, the word blue never makes an appearance.  This omission set off a debate between perception and language that would repeat itself over and over again throughout history: was there something wrong with the ancient Greek's eyes? If they didn't n...

Check out our new season, dropping weekly on Tuesdays, starting June 4th.