In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about Hermann Muller, a geneticist who in the 1920s discovered that radiation causes genetic mutations. This discovery happened around the same time that other geneticists were starting to link cancer with genetic mutations. Had both of these parties communicated they would have gotten a 50-year head start in cancer research. So why didn't scientists make this realization sooner? It turns out that Muller was a real jerk.
CreditsHost: Sam Kean
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
Exploring 'Health Equity Tourism'
The Mothers of Gynecology
Correcting Race
"That Rotten Spot"
Black Pills
Bad Blood, Bad Science
The African Burial Ground
Return, Rebury, Repatriate
The Vampire Project
Keepers of the Flame
Calamity in Philadelphia
BONUS EPISODE: Cheddar Man
Origin Stories
New Season Trailer! Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race
Mechanochemistry
Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code
The Sinister Angel Singers of Rome
Disappearing Spoon: The Murderous Origins of the American Medical Association
Disappearing Spoon: The Harvard Medical School Janitor Who Solved a Murder
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