Emily Vs. Science

Emily Minerof

Hello and welcome to Emily Vs. Science! This is a podcast I am making for an independent study for the Spring 2021 semester at Oakton Community College through the Chemistry Department. Emily Vs. Science is a science-related podcast that everyone can listen to and enjoy.

Afleveringen

  1. COVID and PCR Testing

    23-03-2021

    COVID and PCR Testing

    Thanks for listening to the third episode of Emily Vs. Science! In this episode I discuss PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing as it relates to COVID-19. This semester many colleges and universities are implementing a COVID-19 testing system to keep students safe on campus. As I mentioned in the podcast, the Illinois Return-to-campus plan was first introduced back in Fall 2020 and now lots of campuses like UW Madison have implemented the same system this semester (Spring 2021). I know that the PCR test is hard to understand, so here is the Kahn Academy explanation that helped me understand it quite a bit. More so, here is the Cleveland Clinic’s contribution to how they use the PCR to test for COVID-19. Finally, here are the links to the history of PCR, as supplied by ThermoFisher Scientific and the Kary Mullis Nobel Prize speech to further the understanding of how the PCR test came to be. Steps of PCR Testing: Denaturation:heating up the DNA + Taq polymerase enzyme reaction to denature or separate the DNA strands from it’s double helix form Annealing: cooling down the sample so the primers can attach to where they have been told to attach (based on what the experimenter is looking for) Extension: heating up the reaction again so the Taq polymerase enzyme can stnthesize new DNA stands This process repeated 25-35 times and creates millions to billions of copies of the selected portion of DNA Here’s a graphic from the National Human Genome Research Institute that shows the three steps of a PCR test to solidify the concept.

    11 min
  2. 23-02-2021

    The Time I Thought I Was Dying

    Thank you for listening to the first episode of my new podcast, Emily Vs. Science! I was not expecting to make more podcasts after I made what I thought was a one-time episode as a project for my Gen Chem II class last semester. The podcast was about COVID-19 vaccines and how they had advanced between August 2020 and November 2020. I would say the podcast was pretty cool, but I am definitely biased. It is on Spotify, though, if you’d like to listen. Shameless self-promo. However, it appears that that podcast was not the last of me because I was offered an independent study making podcasts about science-related topics this semester! Absolute mega shout out to Oakton Community College, the Chemistry department, and my professor, Mr. Trent for giving me this awesome opportunity. Throughout the show, I mentioned that I would leave resources in the show notes, so here they are as promised! The FDA made a wonderful, easy-to-read infographic that describes all the steps of the drug approval process! Here is a link to the PDF. This is what a black box warning is, from the National Center for Biotechnology Information with examples of medications and their specific black box warnings. Here is more information on Steven Johnson Syndrome, as well as information from the Cleveland Clinic. I truly did think I was dying. It was very brief but it was a concern. And finally, the longest document of all, the lamotrigine (Lamictal) drug trial information from the FDA.

    16 min

Info

Hello and welcome to Emily Vs. Science! This is a podcast I am making for an independent study for the Spring 2021 semester at Oakton Community College through the Chemistry Department. Emily Vs. Science is a science-related podcast that everyone can listen to and enjoy.