fbpx

Van Andel Institute, The Scientist launch podcast mini-series on health and the environment

How do our environment and diet set the stage for future health?

That’s one of the big questions Van Andel Institute and The Scientist tackle in a new podcast mini-series titled Exposed: Environmental Echoes in Health, part of The Scientist’s Lab Talk podcast series.

The first episode, An Epigeneticist Turned Microbe Hunter, features VAI Assistant Professor Dr. Nick Burton. The episode explores how microbes from our own backyards can possibly impact an organism’s offspring. It is available now at The Scientist and all major podcast platforms.

Future episodes will air throughout October:

  • October 12: Substances that enter the body, such as food or chemicals, can make epigenetic changes in the germline that become inherited, affecting the health of future generations. In this episode, Heidi Lempradl discusses her work studying the effects of parental diet on their offspring.
  • October 19: Through epigenetic mechanisms, some environmental toxicants, such as heavy metals, alter gene expression patterns that then drive cancer progression. In this episode, Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf discusses her work studying environmental toxicants and their effects on DNA methylation and chromatin structure.

The podcast accompanies a Q&A with Dr. J. Andrew Pospisilik, Chair of VAI’s Department of Epigenetics. Pospisilik explores how our environment impacts our health as well as the health of future generations. Read it here.