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"Matters of Scale" Part 2 - Biology and the Problem with Scale

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
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Dr Sylvia MacLain talks about how water creates a problem when researching biology. Structures can be studied when they are in solid form, but approximately 60% of our bodies are made of water.
Proteins, essential for life, are especially problematic as their entire function is related to their structure, which is different in solution. This means that no-one has yet been able to work out how they fold into ordered structures.

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Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks

"Matters of Scale" Part 1 - Extremes of Scale

Professors Pedro Ferreira and Alan Barr explain what scale means to them, from particle physics to the visible universe. At the subatomic level, gravity has a surprisingly large effect and particles are so small that they have no size.
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Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks

"Matters of Scale" Part 3 - Nanomedicine

Dr Sonia Trigueros explains how she is using nanotechnologies to create targeted drug delivery systems. Chemotherapy is a particularly harmful treatment, with patients losing their hair and suffering from infections due to damage to their immune systems.
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Episode Information

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
People
Sylvia MacLain
Chris Lintott
Keywords
education
research
scale
water
biology
biochemistry
cells
protein folding
Department: Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS)
Date Added: 08/10/2014
Duration: 00:11:03

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