The Science of Everything Podcast

An introduction to the psychological study of personality, beginning with a definition of what is and is not personality and a brief history of the development of the field from Freud and Jung through the Myers-Briggs Indicator and the modern trait theories. I then discuss the Big Five personality traits, covering openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, along with validation and criticisms of this model. I conclude with a brief discussion of values and narrative identity as additional aspects of personality.  If you enjoyed the podcast please consider supporting the show by making a PayPal donation or becoming a Patreon supporter. https://www.patreon.com/jamesfodor https://www.paypal.me/ScienceofEverything

An introduction to the processes by which cells control which genes are expressed. We begin with an overview of why genetic regulation is necessary and the key stages where such regulation occurs, including key concepts such as transcription factors and DNA binding domains. We then discuss prokaryotic gene regulation, focusing on the lac operon in E. coli. We then expand the discussion to cover the various mechanisms of eukaryotic gene regulation, including chromatic remodelling, transcriptional regulation, post-transcriptional regulation, RNA editing, and micro RNAs. Recommended pre-listening is Episodes 34-35: DNA Structure and Function, and Episode 118: Cell Signalling. If you enjoyed the podcast please consider supporting the show by making a PayPal donation or becoming a Patreon supporter. https://www.patreon.com/jamesfodor https://www.paypal.me/ScienceofEverything

Here we survey of the causes and consequences of genetic mutation, including a discussion of mechanisms of endogenous and induced mutations, rates of mutation, types of single nucleotide mutations, and the phenotypic effects of mutation. We also discuss various mechanisms for detecting and repairing genetic mutations, including base excision repair, DNA mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair, double strand break repair. We conclude with an examination of large-scale chromosomal changes, including deletions, duplications, inversions, and translocations, unequal crossing over, with a brief look at polypoidy in plants and aneuploidy in humans. Recommended pre-listening is Episodes 34 and 35: DNA Structure and Function, and Episode 44: Cell Division. If you enjoyed the podcast please consider supporting the show by making a PayPal donation or becoming a Patreon supporter. https://www.patreon.com/jamesfodor https://www.paypal.me/ScienceofEverything

An introduction to classical Mendelian genetics, in which we discuss Mendel's experiments with peas and the laws of heredity that he discovered, including inheritance of one allele from each parent, the law of dominance, and the law of independent segregation. We then consider more complex cases of genetic inheritance, including sex-linked traits, incomplete dominance, codominance, and epistasis. The episode concludes with a discussion of quantitative traits determined by many genes, including how genetic variation is described, how sources of variance are identified using genome wide association studies, and the conceptual issues with defining heredity and separating the effects of genes from those of environment.   If you enjoyed the podcast please consider supporting the show by making a PayPal donation or becoming a Patreon supporter. https://www.patreon.com/jamesfodor https://www.paypal.me/ScienceofEverything Check out out youtube channel! The Science of Everything Podcast - YouTube