Into the dark – finding meaning within the depth of our proteome

In our complex world, science can be an important guiding thread for decision-making—both for policymakers and for individuals—on how to shape the health and wellbeing of society and individuals. But science often gets lost in translation, making it hard to distinguish facts from myths and to find truth within the complex picture of modern science. Good science communication is key to demystifying science and enabling science-based decision-making for everyone. In this episode of the BioRevolution podcast, we speak with Dr. Chandni Natalia Kumar, host of the Daily Dose of Honest Science podcast, a postdoc at the Biomedical Center Munich (LMU), and a proteomics enthusiast. Through her channel, Chandni shows what it means to communicate science honestly and accessibly in a world full of hype, myths, and self-optimization trends. We explore what it takes to bridge scientific research and science communication, and discuss the power of proteomics. Find Chandni here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-chandni-natalia-kumar-628b7316a/ Find the Daily Dose of Honest Science podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DDHS_Podcast And Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0CiSf91dGsvx6LX4NGGWmH?si=9439e1dcd01f4af4 Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow

For decades, biology treated the human genome as a tidy instruction manual—genes neatly encoding proteins, surrounded by vast stretches of supposedly irrelevant DNA. As sequencing and molecular tools advanced, that picture fractured: scientists uncovered transposable elements, viral remnants, regulatory RNAs—and even unexpected, tiny non-canonical proteins, often called the “dark proteome.” Today, we know that much of this presumed “junk” DNA is biochemically active under specific conditions, forming an interconnected network of regulatory elements, mobile sequences, non-coding RNAs, and largely uncharacterized proteins. Some scientists believe this dark genomic layer acts as an adaptive reserve, helping genomes respond to stress, disease, and environmental change. In this episode Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow have a fascinating discussion with Dr. Sudhakaran Prabakaran, Associate Teaching Professor at Northeastern University, CEO of biotech NonExomics, and author of the upcoming book Eclipsed Horizons, which explores the dark genome, the proteome, evolution, and speculative futures for both humanity and the planet. Find Dr. Sudhakaran Prabakaran https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhakaranprabakaran/ Find the Eclipsed Horizons https://sites.google.com/view/sudhakaranprabakaran/book Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image Unsplash via NASA Further Reading on the dark genome, proteome and beyond https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5065367/ 2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2998295/ 3. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/fact-sheets/human-genome-project 4. https://www.nature.com/articles/538275a 5. https://www.nature.com/articles/512009e 6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7366731/ 7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15496913/ 8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212011542 9. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/genomics/encode-project.html 10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269899103_Junk_or_functional_DNA_ENCODE_and_the_function_controversy 11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19213877/ 12. https://www.nature.com/articles/520615a 13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11311765/ 14. https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pmic.202100211 15. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12701996/ 16. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9757701/ 17. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6429 18. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32139545/ 19. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38176414/ 20. https://panspermia.org/mcclintocknrg2023.pdf 21. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1912725116

We’re living in the big data age, surrounded by personal, scientific, and societal data that could help us understand the world, make decisions, and even forecast what comes next. But complex systems don’t fit neatly into human intuition, and we can’t “see” meaning in massive datasets without help. That’s where macroscopes come in: software tools designed to make complexity interpretable, explorable and allow users to “make sense” out of big, complex data. In this episode of the BioRevolution podcast, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow have Katy Börner as a guest. Katy is Professor of Engineering and Information Science at Indiana University, leads the international Human Reference Atlas, and is one of the founders and curators behind the long-running Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit. Together they discuss why visualization + interpretation + communication of data matter just as much as data collection—and how macroscopes can help us make sense of our complex world. Find Katy here: https://cns-iu.github.io/katy https://www.bihealth.org/en/notices/prof-dr-katy-boerner-connects-anatomy-and-disease-with-the-multiscale-human-reference-atlas https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-b%C3%B6rner-a03837/ Read more about data visualization and macroscopes here: https://scimaps.org/macroscopes https://bigthink.com/hard-science/macroscopes/ https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1807180116 https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/1897852.1897871 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3093338.3106387 https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262014458/atlas-of-science/ https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262028813/atlas-of-knowledge/ https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262045957/atlas-of-forecasts/ https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049924/atlas-of-macroscopes/ https://mcn.edu/resources/meet-the-macroscopes/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0894439316643050 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27032088/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24626916/ https://archive.org/details/macroscopenewwor0000rosn dagstuhl.de/21152/places-spaces/ Envisioning Intelligences exhibit call is at https://scimaps.org/call-for-submissions Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow

The Rare Lens: AI-based image recognition for rare disease diagnoses There are around 6000 rare diseases, which affect over 300 million people worldwide. Rare diseases are often difficult to diagnose, and people affected by a rare disease wait an average of five years or more for a correct diagnosis, which can be a heavy burden on patients and also hinders rare disease research and drug development. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help address these diagnostic challenges. One promising approach is Next-Generation Phenotyping (NGP), which uses AI to detect disease-specific phenotypic patterns – such as distinct facial features – commonly associated with rare diseases, to support diagnosis and guide genetic testing. In the newest episode of the BioRevolution podcast, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow spoke to two researchers from the University of Bonn working on next-generation phenotyping approaches: Dr. Adele Ruder, MSL for GestaltMatcher, and Dr. Behnam Javanmardi, Group Leader: AI for Rare Diseases and Head of Bone2Gene. We explored the potential of AI-driven diagnosis for rare diseases and what this could mean for people affected by rare diseases, their physicians, and researchers and drug developers in the rare disease space. Find Adele and GestaltMatcher here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeleruder/ https://www.gestaltmatcher.org/ Find Behnam and Bone2Gene here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behnam-javanmardi/ https://bone2gene.org For further reading explore the following references: 1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00056-1/fulltext https://www.nature.com/articles/s41431-024-01604-z 2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19627523/ 3. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2110140/v1 4. https://elifesciences.org/articles/02020 5. https://www.face2gene.com/ 6. https://facematch.org.au/home 7. https://cliniface.org/ 8. https://www.gestaltmatcher.org/ 9. https://bone2gene.org/ 10. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-018-0279-0 11. https://www.nature.com/articles/s10038-019-0619-z 12. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-021-01010-x 13. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10030218 14. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41431-025-01787-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s00112-024-02118-0 15. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36779427/ 16. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-023-01469-w 17. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.06.23290887v4 18. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-02894-w 19. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03050-7 20. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01232-3 21. https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202414507 22. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.06.23290887v4.full.pdf Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow

Cells are the basic units of life. For over a century, understanding cellular processes has been the basis for understanding human development and disease, and for deciphering the actions of novel disease treatments. But there’s a caveat: wet-lab studies in cells take time and money, they are often reductionist. To overcome those challenges of the wet lab, researchers have for some time tried to model cellular processes mathematically, in so-called virtual cells. With the availability of large-scale datasets and sophisticated AI models, virtual cells are advancing into useful tools for researchers. In episode 41 of the BioRevolution podcast we spoke to Prof. Fabian Theis, Chair of Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems at TU Munich and director of the Institute of Computational Biology at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. With Fabian we discussed the convergence of mathematics and biology into virtual cell models and their potential use cases in basic research and drug development. You can find more on Fabian's research here: Theis Lab: https://www.helmholtz-munich.de/en/icb/research-groups/theis-lab Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image Aden Lao via unsplash

Every second man and every third woman will experience a cancer diagnosis during their lives. Getting the news can be devastating and paralyzing, but making the right decisions about treatment, care, mindset and lifestyle is a crucial part of finding a cure. In her book “The 8 Essentials for Overcoming Cancer - Cancer, I can” medical doctor and pharma executive, Stefanie Walther describes her very personal journey and gives holistic advice for battling a cancer diagnosis, from finding the right treatment center and medical team, to finding the right diet, exercise plan and sleep schedule. In the newest episode of the BioRevolution podcast Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow spoke to Stefanie Walther about her story, her book and about the outlook of eradicating cancer as a disease in the future. Find Stefanie Walther: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-stefanie-walther-ab871966/ Order “The 8 Essentials For Overcoming Cancer - Cancer, I Can” here: https://www.amazon.de/Essentials-Overcoming-Cancer-Can/dp/B0FNMDZT5Y Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Further reading on the topics we discussed during the episode and found in the book can be found in here: CANCER FACT AND FIGURES https://www.cancer.org/cancer.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-cancer-risk/lifetime-probability-of-developing-or-dying-from-cancer.html https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2025/2025-cancer-facts-and-figures-acs.pdf https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27196525/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/more-evidence-that-a-healthy-lifestyle-might-help-prevent-cancer https://www.who.int/activities/preventing-cancer ESSENTIAL 1: CALM DOWN https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/survivor-facts-figures.html ESSENTIAL 2: ASK FOR HELP https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31123497/ ESSENTIAL 3: NAME THE DISEASE https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30822350/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5038982/ ESSENTIAL 4: FIND A CANCER CENTER FOR ERADICATION AND REHABILITATION https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12648693/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6132422/ ESSENTIAL 5: I STAY MENTALLY STRONG https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22438289/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31024362/ ESSENTIAL 6: CHOOSE HEALTHY FOODS https://www.aicr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/summary-third-expert-report.pdf https://www.aicr.org/cancer-prevention/healthy-eating/new-american-plate/ ESSENTIAL 7: ACTIVATE YOUR BODY https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2019/cancer-survivors-exercise-guidelines-schmitz https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34213826/ ESSENTIAL 8: NORMALIZE YOUR SLEEP https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29032088/ OUTLOOK https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1204479 https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(19)37684-7/fulltext

This time Louise and Andreas invited the artist Annette Goessel into the show to discuss the once united forces of art and science that seem so seperate in our day and age. And: For the first time since the beginnings of the show we speak German once more (apologies to the non German speakers) In dieser Episode diskutieren wir die faszinierende Verbindung zwischen Kunst und Wissenschaft. Wir erkunden, wie Neugier und Emotionen sowohl Künstler als auch Wissenschaftler antreiben und welche Rolle der kreative Prozess dabei spielt. Zudem betrachten wir die Herausforderungen und Chancen, die Künstliche Intelligenz für beide Disziplinen mit sich bringt. Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image: Annette Goessel You can find Annette Goessel's art here: https://www.annettegoessel.de/ or on socials: https://www.facebook.com/annette.goessel https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-goessel-325153194/ https://www.instagram.com/annettegoessel?igsh=MXZoNXNhOGc3cWRxZw==

It sounds promising: AI chatbots acting as scientists, condensing the work of weeks, months, or even years of reading, debate, and hour-long lab meetings into minutes. Researchers at Stanford University and Google DeepMind have released multi-agent AI “scientist” systems. But how good are they, really, and will they overcome current limitations of large language models like OpenAI’s GPT or Google’s Gemini—such as the lack of robust reasoning capabilities, which are crucial for scientific discovery? In the 38th episode of the BioRevolution Podcast, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow discuss the promise and the reality of AI scientists. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image: Igor Saikin via Unsplash

The $600 billion MedTech industry is undergoing a technological transformation. From AI-powered medical imaging to smart diagnostics and remote monitoring tools, artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping how care is delivered — and increasingly how patients manage their own health. In this episode of the BioRevolution podcast, we are joined by our guest, idalab’s MedTech expert Julian Beimes to discuss how this AI-driven wave aligns with broader shifts in medicine: virtualization, personalization, and prevention. But alongside the innovation, we also unpack the challenges — especially the complex and often fragmented regulatory environment. Are policies like the EU AI Act promoting safety, or holding back progress? Find Julian here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-beimes/ Find idalab here: https://idalab.de/team/julian-beimes Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image: testalize-me-SVmaaACzcJ8-unsplash

Food is a topic that is both deeply personal and of global importance. What we eat affects our health and longevity, but also the lives of animals and the future of our planet. New technologies and scientific discoveries are now enabling us to transform how we produce food and personalize nutrition in entirely new ways. In this episode, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow speak with food expert and CEO of Berlin Food Campus, Lia Carlucci, about key trends shaping the future of food—from alternative proteins to personalized nutrition. You can find Lia here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lia-carlucci-foodtech-entrepreneur-ceo-speaker/?originalSubdomain=de And Berlin Food campus here: https://www.foodcampus.berlin/ Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image: Markus Spiske via Unsplash