Episode 4: Investigative Genetics

Twisted Ladder is a new podcast hosted by Nikhil Nelli. In this podcast Nikhil talks about the incredible world of genomics by interviewing leaders of science and industry on their experiences with genomics. Special thank you to all of my interviewees and to my podcast mentor, Sam Pickering Pick for original music and for teaching me about sound design.

In this episode I interview Dr. Brian Bowen. Dr. Bowen is a Professor and researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii. He leads a research lab that uses genetics to aid conservation and biodiversity of marine creatures. Listen while Dr. Bowen describes his incredible discovery, using genetics, that finally proved the theory of natal-homing, that sea turtles return to the beaches where they were born, to nest.  

In this episode, I interview William Sullivan. From 2005 - 2015 Mr. Sullivan served as CEO of Agilent Technologies, which is a global provider of scientific instruments, software, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. He currently serves as Chair of Board of Directors for Edison International. Agilent offers solution for various applications within genomics, from lab samples, to library preparation, quality control to data analysis. Agilent is one of the most prominent genomic companies. 

In today's episode, I interview Dr. Kelly Harkins Kincaid. She is currently CEO of two genetic companies, Astrea Forensics and Claret Bioscience. Her companies sequence DNA to create a DNA profile that will help law enforcement and genetic genealogy investigators to solve cold cases. Listen while she describes how she uses DNA sequencing technology to sequence hair samples that may help identify criminals. 

In today's episode, I interview Tanya Lev. Tanya is a PhD candidate at UC Irvine who studies cancer genomes to better understand how cancer spreads to other organs in the body. Before that, she helped cancer patients get the right medicines based on which DNA mutations she found in their tumors.