KYTOS Biology

I've been teaching for well over a decade now, and in that time, I’ve supported countless medics, vets, dentists, biomed students, biological sciences undergraduates and a whole host of other applicants with their personal statements for university. Some have been truly fantastic, and undoubtedly would have helped them in securing offers from their first choice destinations – some have left a lot...

The situational factors that influence any type of social interaction (e.g. the physical environment, the presence of other people) can be applied to sport in very specific ways. This podcast will consider some of the theories and studies that can be applied when considering the topic of sport within social contexts. (With thanks to our sponsor 'Curriculum Press' for providing content for this pod...

It is crucial that animals with a cardiovascular system can slow (and ultimately prevent) blood loss from injury or damage to body tissues. In addition, the skin (and accompanying secretions from sebaceous glands) is a highly effective barrier to pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. The repair of skin is vital to the prevention of contraction of infectious diseases. The faster the organi...

As we begin to unlock the secrets held in our DNA, we could all live healthier, for a lot longer - but how much longer is the key question…how far can we push the boundaries? How do we defy the natural phenomenon of ageing...but more importantly, what implications would it have? In this podcast, I’d like to explore the current scientific and medical restrictions on life and how with advances in sc...

Rewilding offers a possible solution to reverse our rapidly deteriorating rural landscape. The natural world is often seen as a resource merely to exploit and the hunting of wild animals in the UK was only banned in 2004. The reintroduction of key species would have positive ecological consequences; a reduction in the number of invasive species, a reduction in the level of soil erosion and the str...

Around 273 million sharks are killed each year globally. They’re feared as the archetypal killing machine, and there’s profit to be made from shark-derived products; but they may be more economically and environmentally valuable alive than dead. This podcast will evaluate the psychological, economical, gastronomical, medical, ethical and ecological arguments for killing these creatures as opposed...

Worldwide, the number of potential pathogens is very large, while the resources for disease research and development is limited. To ensure efforts under the World Health Organisation’s blueprint are focused and productive, a list of diseases and pathogens are prioritized for research in public health emergency contexts – what is fascinating, is that nearly all pathogens on the list are viruses. In...

We are all born with the neural architecture and ability to develop empathy and compassion, but to remain a good person, we must have a series of positive experiences throughout our lives. The Pygmalion effect may certainly account for why people choose to do bad things, but perhaps we should consider other psychological forces; cognitive dissonance, conformity, and obedience to authority. In this...

The perceived role of God in illness and recovery is a primary influence upon the health care beliefs and behaviours of people. Only by understanding an individual's religious beliefs can medical practitioners effectively meet their health care needs, a concept which I examine in this extended podcast. (With thanks to Akpenpuun Joyce Rumun for conducting the research and providing the content for...

In May 2017, the Brazilian government declared an end to the public health emergency posed by the Zika Virus. Now, a new disease is threatening Brazil. An outbreak of yellow fever in rural parts of the country is spreading towards urban areas, creating a risk to neighbouring countries in the Americas. Yellow fever is a haemorrhagic disease, spread by mosquitoes. In this podcast, I discuss the symp...

Since capital punishment was reinstated by the US Supreme Court in 1976, 932 people have been put to death via lethal injection, 154 by electrocution, 11 by means of the gas chamber, 3 have been hung and 2 have been killed by firing squad. These 5 methods of execution are the most commonly used in the US today; what I want to do in this podcast is to better understand the methods used, the science...

We might perceive attraction as a free choice, but scientists have provided a number of different explanations about how attraction happens. Physiological theories can be divided into evolutionary explanations, which are based on primitive instincts to mate and be looked after, and biological explanations, which examine the role of hormones and neurotransmitters in the process of attraction. Other...

Microscopic plankton are essential components of aquatic food chains and food webs. They are amongst the most abundant organisms on the planet, yet many people underestimate the environmental impact of plankton destruction. In this podcast, I aim to shed some light on the key roles that phytoplankton and zooplankton play in ecosystems, and in doing so, hope to answer the question - why should we c...

Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the membranes (meninges) that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. As there are numerous causes of meningitis, there is no one vaccination to offer protection because, for example, the HiB bacterium will have different surface molecules to the MenB bacterium so won’t stimulate an immune response. In this podcast, I discuss the different types of co...

One theory of addiction (and one that has popular appeal outside of psychology) is that of the addictive personality. This theory states that some people have a personality type that predisposes them towards addictive behaviour. This personality is caused by differences in the biological make up of individuals. It has been argued that people with this personality type are prone towards addictive b...

In order to understand forgetting, we must have an understanding of memory. According to the Oxford English Dictionary memory is “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.” Forgetting therefore is our inability to retrieve information from our memory. Some argue that when emotions impact on memory, then forgetting is an unwillingness to remember information rather than an ina...

The view that we are born with a certain level of fixed intelligence is outdated. The environment plays a role in the way children are nurtured and it contributes to their development of intelligence. Children develop on their existing intelligence through numerous factors in their environment namely the positive relationship with their primary caregiver, opportunities to explore, play, learn and...

Many would argue that until we can develop ways of empirically demonstrating how alleged telepathic communication occurs, research into telepathy will always rely on disputable methods, almost entirely reliant on controversial ways of judging probability and significance. It is perhaps for this reason that mainstream science regards the field of parapsychology as a pseudoscience and the subject al...

An adult organism is not a static being but continues to change and develop, until the developmental processes are brought to an end by death. The word ‘ageing’ describes the developmental changes that lead, over time, to the deterioration of the mature organism. Ageing is a complex process which involves interactions between a number of biochemical mechanisms. The effects of these act at the mole...

The concept of androgyny, it has been suggested, offers a means of transcending the duality of gender differences imposed by culture. Once gender polarities are reduced, traditional sex and gender differences can be broken down. In this podcast, I explore the concepts of sex, gender and androgyny, and aim to provide psychological evidence to support those concepts. (With thanks to our sponsor 'Cur...

Schizophrenia is a severe mental health disorder characterised by psychosis and the inability to recognise reality. Positive symptoms of the disorder are those which happen in addition to everyday experiences, including hallucinations and delusions, whereas negative symptoms are those that take away from such experiences, such as avolition and speech poverty. In this podcast, I describe the five m...

For a long time, biologists believed that our DNA resided only in the nucleus, the large organelle acting as the control centre in our cells. It wasn't until 1963, when scientists Margrit and Sylvan Nass at Stockholm University discovered DNA fibres in mitochondria using electron microscopy. Our mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) accounts for a small portion of our total DNA. In fact, it contains just 40 o...

In December 2019, the city of Wuhan in Hubei province China, became the centre of a suspected outbreak of pneumonia. At first, no-one was able to establish a cause. Health authorities immediately investigated the nature of the disease and ways to control its spread. In January 2020, Chinese scientists isolated a new coronavirus from the patients in Wuhan; this we now refer to as SARS-Cov-2, the ca...

A human liver is estimated to carry out over 500 different functions, including metabolism, detoxification and the synthesis of key proteins and other biological molecules. If the liver is damaged, it can regrow parts given its' regenerative capabilities, however, if the damage is too extensive, the cells will not regenerate and this can have a major impact on one's health. (With thanks to our spo...

Statins are designed to lower cholesterol levels in those deemed at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In this podcast, I'll discuss how statins work and the biological importance of 'good' cholesterol in our bloodstream. Moreover, I'll explain why the use of these so-called 'miracle drugs' has proven controversial, with some clinicians citing the poor correlation between statin intake and...