In this episode we hear about the neuroscience of chewing, skin cancer, African sleeping sickness, an ancient protein complex, and our editor-in-chief shares his thoughts on scientific publishing.

In this episode we hear about ancient proteins, aging mice, mosquito nets, resourceful plants and cocktail party conversations.

Yunsheng Cheng grew up in a village in Anhui Province in China and received his bachelor's degree from Anhui Normal University. He is currently a graduate student at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he studies how neurons transmit signals to other cells. He enjoys listening to country music, and after he graduates he would like to pursue postdoctoral training abroad.

A “completely random” encounter with a former classmate propelled Richard Aragon from a postdoc to the world of science policy. He now works for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Chief of the Office of Program Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

In this episode we hear about how flatworms regenerate, the evolution of photosynthesis, social interactions between mice, the properties of undead cells, and how steroids and genes interact.

In this episode we hear about biofilms in bacteria, drug production, gender bias in peer review, nematode worms and how synchronising brain waves can boost memory.