PODCAST · science
BioTime
by Christopher Jang
Welcome to BioTime, a place for you to learn high school biology, pass your exams, and understand the science of life. This podcast, hosted by San Marino High School senior Christopher Jang, features episodes that teach important biology concepts in a simple and easy way to understand.
Episodes
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From the Inside: A Conversation with Dr. Garrett Cooper
In this episode, I interview Dr. Garrett Cooper, a recent PhD graduate from Emory's Genetics and Molecular Biology program. He now works as a research scientist for Exact Sciences. Our conversation is perfect for anyone interested in pursuing an industry job in the biotech sector. We open with a...
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From The Inside: A Conversation with Dr. Shana Burstein
In this episode, I interview Dr. Shana Burstein, a second-year pediatric hematology-oncology fellow at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She received her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2021, followed by a residency in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Her…
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From the Inside: A Conversation with Dr. Caroline Li
In this episode, we have a discussion with Dr. Caroline Li, an assistant professor at City of Hope, a top ten cancer research center. She shares with us her academic journey from discovering her passion for science at a young age to establishing herself as faculty member of City of Hope. This...
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Lac Operon
Our bodies love processing glucose, the primary energy source for many organisms. It is simple and easy to extract the energy contained within this simple sugar. But, there are other sugars that organisms can utilize such as lactose. One way that E. coli and many other bacteria harness lactose as...
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Translation
In the early 2000s, news headlines were all reporting of the same terror: ricin laden letters. Once a person comes in contact with ricin and the poison is absorbed, cells lose the ability to perform translation. Without translation, the body is unable to synthesize proteins critical for life. In...
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DNA Structure
DNA serves as the genetic blueprint for all living organisms. They hold all of the information that govern our very existence. Our growth and development as living organisms relies on this essential biological molecule. In this episode, we will be explore the structure of DNA. Specifically, we…
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Darwin's Four Postulates
Today, we have Charles Darwin to thank for the theory of evolution and natural selection. His work has revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth. In his infamous novel, On the Origin of Species, he proposed a core concept that we refer to as Darwin's four postulates. These postulates…
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Characteristics of Living Organisms
As biologists, we are responsible for the study of life. We study a vast range of topics from how cancer cells interact with each other to the origin of life. We study everything that is living. But, what does it mean to even be alive? Today, we will be discussing the 7 characteristics of living...
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Evidence for Evolution
Life around us is ever changing. If we were to time travel back a hundred thousand years, the many animals that we adore and love would not look the same. Dogs would not look the same. Cats would not look the same. Even plants like trees would not look the same. Why? The answer lies in evolution....
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Lactic and Alcoholic Fermentation
Have you ever wondered how beer is brewed? How does yogurt gain its signature creamy texture? These delicacies owe their existence to fermentation. Today we will be exploring fermentation, a form of anaerobic respiration. Specifically, we will be exploring lactic acid fermentation and alcoholic...
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Photosynthesis: Light Dependent Reactions
Looking out at the plants surrounding us, it might seem as if there is not much going on in their lives. But, if we were to zoom in on these plants and gaze into their interior, we would find the most intricate and complex biological processes that we are still far from fully understanding. One...
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Oxidative Phosphorylation
As humans, we have a constant need to breathe. With every breath, we fill our lungs with an essential gas: oxygen. But why is oxygen so essential to life? Oxygen is needed for a process called oxidative phosphorylation. This is a process that we as humans along with countless other organisms need...
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Fluid Mosaic Model
In the 20th century, there was an explosion in our understanding of cellular structure. Many of these recent finding have transformed the way biologists approach cellular function. In 1972, S.J. Singer and Garth L. Nicolsen, proposed a revolutionary cell membrane model called the fluid mosaic...
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From the Inside: A Discussion With Dr. Eladio Abreu
This episode is the very first of our new series, From the Inside, where I interview high achieving professionals in the life sciences about their academic journey, advice they have for those interested in their field, and what life is like in their line of work. Our first speaker is Dr. Eladio...
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The Biology of Skin Color
Skin color is something that has baffled scientists for centuries. As we look around ourselves, we find tremendous amounts of variation in skin color, from black to brown to white. There is an entire spectrum of skin color to be found. Why does this variation exist? In this episode, we dive into...
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Fibroblast Growth Factors and Their Receptors
From wound healing to cell growth to bone formation, fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) are responsible for a diverse range of biological processes. This episode begins with the basics: the functions of FGFs and FGFRs. We will then move on to an indepth...
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Cancer Causing Genes
Cancer is a disease that has a chokehold on today’s society. With approximately 2 million new cancer diagnoses in the US every year paired with 10 million cancer-caused deaths worldwide, scientists have been struggling for centuries to find a cure. In today’s episode, we discuss the two main...
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Nitrogen Cycle
When we think about the air surrounding us, we often relate this gaseous mixture to oxygen, the giver of life. However, there is another vital element in the air that we too often disregard: nitrogen. The Earth’s biosphere would be nothing without nitrogen. Life as we know it today would not…
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Community Structure
In society, we have many different people with different roles and ecological communities are no different. All organisms are interconnected through a complex web of interactions and a way we can describe the composition of species in a certain geographic location is to look at community…
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Mitochondria
As humans, we walk, talk, run, and do an endless list of tasks a day, all of which require energy. Where is all of this power generated from? In this podcast, we will be discussing the structure of a mitochondrion, the function of a mitochondrion, and how cellular respiration takes place within…
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Origins of Life
13.8 billion years ago, our universe exploded into existence. But from that point on, how did life form? Today, we are going to be talking about the origins of life on Earth and hypotheses about how life came to inhabit this planet.
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Endosymbiotic Theory
The Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago. Over the past billions of years, evolution has greatly changed life as we see it today. If we transport ourselves back in time and look at cells, we will notice that they are extremely simple. But, in the present day, we notice that cells have become...
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Active and Passive Transport
Our cells are very complicated and require and require many different enzymes, proteins, ions, and more in order to function properly. They need all of these different biological necessities to be at the right place and at the right time. How do our cells have so much control over all of these...
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Multiple Alleles, Incomplete Dominance, and Codominance
Mendelian principles have served as a gateway into the functions of how our genetic information is passed on. Over time, we have discovered principles beyond mendelian genetics. In this episode, we review multiple alleles, incomplete dominance, and codominance. We discuss how they function and…
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Cell Communication
Our cells are constantly sending messages to each other through a complex network of signaling molecules. In today's podcast, we will explore paracrine signaling, autocrine signaling, endocrine signaling, and direct contact in depth along with examples of each.
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Law of Segregation
In the 1860s, famous scientist Gregor Mendel explored the laws that governed genetics and devised the Law of Segregation. This law is crucial to our understanding of genetics today. In this episode, we dive into the details of how Mendel made this revolutionary discovery and go into depth on the...
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Mendel's Experiment
In 1865, Gregor Mendel conducted an experiment on pea plants that transformed our understanding of genetics. In this podcast, we will explore how he conducted his experiment and what he discovered.
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Endoplasmic Reticulum
In this podcast, a major organelle of the Endomembrane system is discussed, the Endoplasmic Reticulum. The episode opens with a discussion on the ER as a whole and then goes into detail on the structure and function of the ER's two counterparts, the smooth and rough ER. If you have any questions,...
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Preserving Variation in a Population
When we look at a species, oftentimes we notice that they do not all look exactly the same. Perhaps the color of their fur differs or the length of their legs varies. This variation is natural and is essential for survival. In this episode, we explore how this variation can be preserved in order…
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Cell Cycle Regulation
Cell cycle regulation helps our cells control when they want to divide and when they do not. In this episode, we dive into cyclins, cyclin-dependant kinases, mautration-promoting factors, platelet-derived growth factors, and p53.
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Mutations
Mutations are essential to the survival of organisms. It drives evolution, creating diversity. But, it also has its consequences. In this episode, we explore the benefits of mutations but also their pitfalls. We discuss gene mutations, chromosomal mutations, insertions, deletions, point…
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The 3-Domain Classification System
With countless organisms roaming the Earth, it is important to have a system to classify them all. The 3-Domain Classification System is a way to sort organisms into 3 categories: bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. In this episode, we explore each of these classfications and the criteria each requires.
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Inhibition of Enzymatic Reactions
Enzymes play a large role in enzymatic reactions so being able to control them is essential. In this podcast, we explore competitive inhibition, noncompetitive inhibition, and cofactors and how they affect enzymes.
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Eukaryotes vs. Prokaryotes
What are the differences between Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes? This episode begins by discussing the essential components that all cells need and then transitions into in-depth explanations on Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. The episode closes with a comparison between the two cell types. If you have…
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Community Ecology
Community Ecology is the discussion of all of the interactions between organisms in a community. Today, we will be going into depth on the 5 categories of community ecology: competition, predation, herbivory, symbiosis, and facilitation.
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Biotechnology's Tools and Techniques
The world of science is advancing faster than ever, especially in biotechnology. With scientists pushing through the frontier, many innovations are being made and it is important to keep up. In today's episode, we will be discussing CRISPR, Polymerase Chain Reactions, Restriction Enzymes, Gel...
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Atomic Structure and Properties of Water
Water is essential to life on Earth. Without it, no life as we know it would exist today. Water has many essential properties that allow for it to sustain life on this Earth and this podcast goes into detail on the 5 major properties: high specific heat, high heat of vaporization, universal...
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Environmental Impacts on Enzymes
This podcast reviews environmental impacts on enzymes topic 3.3. Enzymes are incredibly important as they are what allow our bodies to complete the required reactions and keep us alive! We will be discussing denaturation and the three major environmental impacts on enzymes which are temperature,...
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Macromolecules
One of the basic components that support life are macromolecules with the four being carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. This podcast dives into the structure, function, and application of all of these macromolecules. In addition, we will also be discussing dehydration synthesis,...
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Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection
Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection has served as a basis to this day for the reasoning behind evolution. It has assisted us to answer our largest questions concerning how and why species look the way they do. In this episode, we explore Darwin's voyage on the HMS Beagle, the five major points…
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Causes of Evolution
Every living organism you have ever seen has been the result of evolution. If we were to look back on humans millions of years ago, we would have looked drastically different compared to how we look today. In this episode, we discuss the five main factors that contribute to evolution: Genetic...
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Griffith, Avery, and Hershey Chase Experiments
The road to discovering the genetic material of cells, DNA, was a long journey. In this episode, we explore the three experiments that led to this discovery: The Griffith experiment, The Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment, and the Hershey Chase experiment. If you have any questions, feel free to…
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Cell Signaling: Reception
Cells live in an ever-changing environment, always needing to be aware of their surroundings and reacting to an organism's needs. In order to understand when to take action, cells must receive a message from the outside world in a process called reception. Reception is the first of three steps in...
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Vacuole
Vacuoles are an essential part of our endomembrane system. They deal with a variety of tasks like storage and getting rid of toxic waste! In this episode, we will explore the vacuole's structure and function. If you have any questions, feel free to send them to...
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Lysosome
Lysosomes, an essential part of the endomembrane system, are reviewed in this episode. The podcast opens by discussing the structure and then transitions into a thorough explanation of the functions of a lysosome. Finally, the episode quickly gives a short review on Tay-Sachs disease. If you have...
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Golgi Apparatus
In this episode, we review a major organelle of the endomembrane system, the Golgi Apparatus. The podcast explores the structure, function, and how the cisternal maturation model works in complete detail. If you have any questions, feel free to send them to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to BioTime, a place for you to learn high school biology, pass your exams, and understand the science of life. This podcast, hosted by San Marino High School senior Christopher Jang, features episodes that teach important biology concepts in a simple and easy way to understand.
HOSTED BY
Christopher Jang
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