A hundred years ago, insulin was scraped from pig pancreases. Today, it’s made by bacteria in giant tanks. In the second part of a mini series on proteins, drug development and AI, Saloni tells the story of how insulin went from a crude animal extract to the first genetically-engineered drug, kickstarting the biotech industry along the way.Hard Drugs is a new podcast from Works in Progress and Open Philanthropy about medical innovation presented by Saloni Dattani and Jacob Trefethen.Saloni’s substack newsletter: https://www.scientificdiscovery.dev/Jacob’s blog: https://blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ Books:Genentech: The beginnings of biotech by Sally Smith HughesArticles:FDA (2007). Celebrating a Milestone: FDA's Approval of First Genetically-Engineered Product https://fda.report/media/110447/Celebrating-a-Milestone--FDA%27s-Approval-of-the-First-Genetircally-Engineered-Product.pdf Genentech (2016). Cloning Insulin https://www.gene.com/stories/cloning-insulin Arthur Riggs (2020). Making, Cloning, and the Expression of Human Insulin Genes in Bacteria: The Path to Humulin https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/42/3/374/6042201 Podcasts:Novo Nordisk (Ozempic) by the Acquired podcast https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/novo-nordisk-ozempic Acknowledgements:Aria Babu, editor at Works in ProgressAdrian Bradley, on-site producerAnna Magpie, fact-checkingAbhishaike Mahajan, cover artAtalanta Arden-Miller, art directionDavid Hackett, composerWorks in Progress & Open Philanthropy
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Why feminism worked best in the West with Alice Evans
Social scientist Alice Evans talks about why, despite a superficially similar feminist movement in East Asia, Western feminism has been much successful. Alice, Sam and Aria talk about dating markets, drinking culture at work, top-down media control, and what tax policy is best for motivating people to have more children.For more of Alice's work, check out her Substack.Go to worksinprogress.co to read more from Works in Progress.ReferencesFlowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea's Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women' s Rights Worldwide Paperback by Hawon JungThe clan and the corporation: Sustaining cooperation in China and Europe by Avner Greif and Guido TabelliniThe Swedish Theory of Love: Individualism and Social Trust in Modern Sweden by Henrik Berggren and Lars TrägårdhDrunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization Hardcover by Edward Slingerland
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Proteins: Weird blobs that do important things
This episode kicks off a mini-series on proteins, drug development and AI. Saloni and Jacob explore the world of proteins, including how proteins fold into complex shapes, why that complexity matters and how crowded and dynamic the inside of a cell really is; and they exchange surprising statistics about proteins.Hard Drugs is a new podcast from Works in Progress and Open Philanthropy about medical innovation presented by Saloni Dattani and Jacob Trefethen.You can watch or listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.Saloni’s substack newsletter: https://www.scientificdiscovery.dev/Jacob’s blog: https://blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ Books:Ron Milo and Rob Phillips. Biology by the numbers https://book.bionumbers.org/ Carl Ivar Branden and John Tooze (1999) Introduction to protein structure https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781136969898/introduction-protein-structure-john-tooze-carl-ivar-branden Articles:Niko McCarty (2023). Biology is a burrito. https://www.asimov.press/p/burrito-biology Rhiannon Morris, Katrina Black, and Elliott Stollar (2022) Uncovering protein function: from classification to complexes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9400073/ Victor Muñoz and Michele Cerminara (2016) When fast is better: protein folding fundamentals and mechanisms from ultrafast approaches https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article/473/17/2545/49248/When-fast-is-better-protein-folding-fundamentals Image credits:Chang et al. (2012) Egg white in organic electronics. https://spie.org/news/4149-egg-white-in-organic-electronics [diagram of egg white denaturing and cross-linking]John Kendrew’s model of myoglobin’s structure; via Carl Ivar Branden and John Tooze (1999) Introduction to protein structure.Carl Ivar Branden and John Tooze (1999) Introduction to protein structure. [diagram of amino acids and protein structure]Ron Milo and Rob Phillips. Which is bigger, mRNA or the protein it codes for? https://book.bionumbers.org/which-is-bigger-mrna-or-the-protein-it-codes-for/ [diagram of myoglobin mRNA vs protein]Scitable (2014). Microtubules and Filaments. https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/microtubules-and-filaments-14052932/ [diagram of microtubules]
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How to become President of China with Dan Wang
Is it better to be run by engineers, lawyers or regulators? Can you build an economy on luxury handbags or do you need advanced manufacturing? Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future discusses why China outbuilds America, how the young and ambitious succeed in China, and the secret to finding the best Chinese restaurants.You can order his new book here, read his annual letters on China here, and check out London's best Suzhou noodles here.If you want more from Works in Progress you can read the magazine here or listen to our episode about land in East Asia here.
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The underrated economics of land with Mike Bird
Why is Chinese housing so expensive despite being oversupplied? How did land reforms in Russia lead to the Bolshevik revolution? What killed Georgism? The Economist’s Wall Street Editor, Mike Bird, discusses the underrated economics of land.You can preorder Mike's book here and read more about land readjustment in Works in Progress Issue 19.
Works in Progress is an online magazine devoted to new and underrated ideas about economic growth, scientific progress, and technology. Subscribe to listen to the Works in Progress podcast, plus Hard Drugs by Saloni Dattani and Jacob Trefethen.
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