Lester makes some important points about the failure of mouse models in biomedical research, including the abysmal failure to develop cancer therapies. However, the assertion that although mice are poor models of human disease, they are still the best we have is concerning. Billions of dollars are spent annually on painful experiments using mice with no benefit to humans. Jackson Lab has a decade-long history of mistreatment toward mice in its facility.  Mice have died of thirst, suffocated when left forgotten in cages, and have been found alive among dead bodies in plastic bags in freezers. Experimenters also deviated from experimental protocols without approval, calling scientific procedures into question.

Wyss in the News

We talked in this week's show about very smart computers - including Watson, the supercomputer and Jeopardy! champion. Want a little taste of Watson in your own home? Gadget guru Ben Saren has some pointers on how the newest gadgets can spruce up your humble abode in this exclusive web extra.

Gadget Spotlight: Around the House

What's Watson the supercomputer up to these days? We examine how this Jeopardy champion has gone from winning game shows to changing health care, finance, and education.

Watson After Jeopardy!

What does it look like when you're creating and selling your own product? Your own brisket, pickles, or ideas? We talked to Susan Piver, director of the Open Heart Project, an online meditation and mindfulness guide.

The Open Heart Project

Think about those emails you get every minute, the texts constantly vibrating in your pocket, a news cycle that never ends. In his book Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, best-selling author Douglas Rushkoff offers up an arresting theory about how living in this brave new world changes us. Part 2 of 2: the economy.

Douglas Rushkoff: Present Shock and the Economy

Think about those emails you get every minute, the texts constantly vibrating in your pocket, a news cycle that never ends. In his book Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, best-selling author Douglas Rushkoff offers up an arresting theory about how living in this brave new world changes us. Part 1 of 2: Entertainment.

Douglas Rushkoff: Present Shock and Entertainment

David Pogue of the New York Times spends his time thinking about the race to make phones ever slimmer, and their cameras just a bit better, and our watches a little smarter. We chatted about his predictions for the latest and greatest breakthroughs in technology.

New Tech with David Pogue

Do you ever wonder why so many movies now have a number at the end? Anita Elberse, professor at Harvard Business School, certainly did. In her new book, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment, Elberse argues that, despite living in a world with more media sources and entertainment options than ever, our tastes are converging on the flashiest blockbuster hits and the biggest superstars.

The Rise of the Blockbuster

Matt Richtel, New York Times writer and author of “The Cloud,” says the modern job hunt is in for a huge change.

The End of the Resume

Dan Pink, author of “To Sell is Human” and “Drive,” says that in the 21st century economy, ideas are our most important currency.

Dan Pink's Idea Economy

Ali Khademhosseini, MASc, Ph.D., is a Professor at Harvard-MIT's Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  He also directs a satellite laboratory at the World Premier International-Advanced Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University, Japan. At the Wyss Institute, his laboratory is developing bioinspired approaches for generating tissue-like structures as well as fabricating combinatorial biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khademhosseini

Scientific Research and Publishing - Prof. Ali Khademhosseini

On Monday the London Design Museum announced it’s “Design of the Year” award, and for the first time it went to a Medical design. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University’s “Organs-on-chips” was the overall winner. The chips mimic the functions of human organs for the purpose of medical testing. 

Guest: Tony Bahinski, Lead Senior Staff Scientist at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

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Science, Your Body, And Testing - The Jon McComb Show - June 25

On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate interviews Anna Rothschild, the host of Nova's Gross Science. Nate asks Anna what she knows about cow and kangaroo burps, ribbon worms, and infections. He also gets more information on everyone's favorite topic, cheese mites. You can find episodes of Gross Science at www.youtube.com/user/grossscienceshow. Ewwww!

004: Gross Science with Anna Rothschild

Audio from sessions at the 2016 Convergence Forum, held in Chatham, Mass. on May 12 and 13, 2016. For more details, visit http://convergenceforum.com

Fireside Chat with George Church of the Wyss Institute

Why do we use mice for medical research? As I-Hub’s Caroline Lester found out, it all started with fancy mice.

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4'33" - Discovery Download

The Modest Mouse: Why We Use Mice in Medicine

A physicist decides that the best way to make progress on his robotics project is to go to Namibia to study termites.

Every week the Story Collider brings you a true, personal story about science. Find more here: http://storycollider.org/

Justin Werfel is a research scientist at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He received his PhD at MIT and did postdoctoral work at Harvard and the New England Complex Systems Institute. He works on topics including swarm robotics, evolutionary theory, DNA self-assembly, and cancer modeling, and recently published an invited book chapter about the ecology of Fraggle Rock. He's a two-time MassMouth Big Mouth Off finalist and Audience Choice winner.

Justin Werfel: Robotics lessons from termites

The Wyss Institute uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired technologies that will revolutionize medicine and create a more sustainable world.

Innovation Hub looks at how to reinvent our world – from medicine to education, relationships to time management. Great thinkers and great ideas, designed to make your life better.

The Modest Mouse: Why We Use Mice in Medicine

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