The Life Scientific

Vaccines save millions of lives each year but, to work, most need to be kept cold throughout their journey, from the factory where they’re made to the clinic where they’re given. This relies on what’s known as the cold chain, a global network of fridges, freezers and icepacks. The chain is not only expensive to maintain, it’s incredibly vulnerable to breaking. In low- and middle- income countries, in particular, transport delays, power cuts and equipment failures often cause vaccines to spoil before they reach the people who need them.
An urgent quest in public health has been to find a way to stabilise vaccines, at room temperature, so that they no longer need this cold chain. This occurred to Asel Sartbaeva, during a routine visit to the GP with her newborn daughter. Originally from Kyrgyzstan and now Associate Professor of Chemistry at Bath University, Asel investigates silica-based materials. Not a typical background for someone working on vaccines, but it gave her a fresh perspective. She wasn’t focussed on changing the vaccine itself, instead, she asked a different question: could she use her knowledge silica-based materials and coat the vaccine in a protective shell that would allow it to survive at room temperature, eliminating the need for refrigeration?
Her solution? A perfectly tailored protective coat made silica, found in beach sand. If human trials are successful, she hopes that vaccines will travel to wherever they are needed by envelope and on drones.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Beth Eastwood
A BBC Studios production

Finding the wreck of the Titanic would be a career-defining achievement for most people. For oceanographer Robert Ballard, it's just one chapter in a life packed full of extraordinary marine exploration.
Bob located the world-famous shipwreck in 1985, but even before that, he’d helped prove the existence of hydrothermal vents: underwater formations surrounded by ecosystems flourishing in the ocean’s depths - without sunlight; a discoveyr that revolutionised our understanding of where and how life can flourish...
Over a career spanning six decades, Bob has pioneered revolutionary technologies, discovered some of history's most famous shipwrecks and inspired new generations of explorers. What's more, as he tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, he's still exploring mysteries of the deep today...
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
A BBC Studios production

What do the very first writhing movements of babies have in common with orangutans solving problems for food? Well, according to Gillian Forrester they may both offer clues about how we humans developed language.
Working with her great ape colleagues, Gilly Forrester – Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Sussex – has dedicated her career to finding out how we became the talkative, tool-using troop we are today.
Examining the link between movement, spoken language and social communication, Gilly’s research has looked at how brain organisation could affect the likelihood of being diagnosed with autism and ADHD, as well as how training dexterity may improve linguistic fluency in children.
In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Gilly reveals what she believes it really means to be human, and the pair discover that despite his PhD in nuclear physics, Jim might not be quite as smart as a chimp.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Alex Rodway
A BBC Studios production

Although books and movies might suggest otherwise, catching criminals is of course less about hunches and gut instinct, and more about gruelling analysis of hard data - including when it comes to the psychological side.
David Canter is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, who took exactly this approach in the 1980s when he was asked to help police track down a serial killer. David had built his reputation as an environmental psychologist, studying how people behave in emergency situations and even advising the government on how to prevent disasters in football stadiums. But when he was asked to apply his unique methodology to help track down a serial killer and rapist, he realised that data-driven analysis of a suspect's behavioural patterns could be invaluable to any investigation.
David tells Jim Al-Khalili about how he founded the field of investigative psychology - and went on to advise on major criminal investigations, write award-winning books and even make time to pursue a parallel life as a composer.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
A BBC Studios production

Imagine looking at a map of a city you thought you knew inside-out, only to discover a collection of tightly knit neighbourhoods that nobody had ever realised existed... Edith Heard has achieved something rather similar with DNA.
Edith is a leading expert in epigenetics: put simply, the science around how our bodies can turn particular genes on or off without actually altering our DNA. She’s spent her career studying the mechanisms that make us who we are and transforming our understanding of how X chromosomes are expressed; notably, how female cells turn off the spare X chromosome.
Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Edith discusses her journey from a shy and introverted youngster to the cutting edge of European science - including her latest role as Director of London’s prestigious Francis Crick Institute.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
A BBC Studios production