Systems Biology podcasts

Neurobiologist Tom Clandinin joins Nicholas Weiler to explore how interacting genetic, cellular and metabolic systems maintain brain health over a lifetime, and how their breakdown contributes to neurodegeneration. The discussion moves beyond single explanations such as inflammation or waste clearance to a systems-level study of brain resilience. Clandinin describes a collaborative programme combining large-scale genetic perturbations in flies and mice with molecular, circuit and behavioural measurements. Computational models will connect these observations across cell types, predict interactions and guide experiments toward potential ways to strengthen the aging brain’s maintenance systems.

Hosted by Nicholas Weiler

Tanja Janko interviews chemist Lee Cronin about Assembly Theory, chemical complexity, and the emergence of life. They discuss how molecules can reflect the history of their assembly, whether homochirality could be an early form of chemical selection, and how the Chemputer could make chemistry programmable. Other topics include the distinction between patterns and codes in biology, complex molecules as possible evidence of life on Mars, and primitive cell-like behaviour in inorganic polyoxometalate systems.

Hosted by Tanja Janko

Polina Shichkova discusses models of brain metabolism, including energy supply and the cellular processes that maintain neuronal function.

Markus Covert discusses comprehensive bacterial cell simulations and what whole-cell modelling could contribute to future studies of neurons.