PNAS Science Sessions

Sean Palecek and Xiaojun Lian describe their efficient method for converting stem cells into heart muscle cells.

Clayton R. Magill and Katherine H. Freeman discuss how water availability and ecosystem changes influenced early human habitats.

Bob MacCallum explores how music can evolve from noise based on listeners' preferences.

Diana Wall discusses how life in the soil may change in a warming world.

Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena describes how he engineered a symbiotic bacterium found in mosquito guts to block the transmission of the malaria parasite.

Julie Segre and Liliana Losada discuss human-microbe interactions in a recording of a PNAS Science Cafe event held in Washington, DC on February 27, 2013.

John Durant talks about the role of science festivals in science literacy.

Bernhard Palsson explains how bacteria can be used as factories to produce sustainable products.

Joel Levine discusses his research on social interaction networks in fruit flies.

Chet Sherwood explores the unique aspects of the human brain's anatomy and function

Thalia Wheatley and Beau Sievers discuss the structural similarities between music and movement.

E. Peter Greenberg explains how antisense RNA help regulate bacterial social interactions.

David Hu describes his research on how mosquitos survive collisions with raindrops, which could help design better flying robots.

Bob MacCallum explores how music can evolve from noise based on listeners' preferences.

Merlin Hanauer and Chase Mendenhall discuss the science of biodiversity, in the second of two recordings of a PNAS Science Cafe event held in Washington, DC on October 17, 2012.

Merlin Hanauer and Chase Mendenhall discuss the science of biodiversity, in the first of two recordings of a PNAS Science Cafe event held in Washington, DC on October 17, 2012.

Fred Alt discusses methods to map human chromosomal reshuffling.

Myra Finkelstein discusses her research showing that California condors are significantly threatened by lead from lead-based ammunition.

Chemical engineer Mark Davis discusses his research on nano-sized cancer therapeutics.

Chemical biologist Allan Conney discusses his research on caffeine's anticancer properties.

Neuroscientist Charles F. Stevens discusses his research on finding the brain's underlying design principles.

Marc Kirschner discusses the goals of systems pharmacology.

Frances Arnold explains how she harnesses the power of evolution to create proteins and organisms with applications in medicine and in alternative energy.

Akiko Iwasaki explains how gut bacteria boost immunity to influenza virus.

Sarkis Mazmanian talks about how gut bacteria interact with the immune system to influence health and disease.

David Walt discusses his research on using fluorescent bacteria to send secret messages.

2011 Nobel Prize winner Bruce Beutler talks about his discovery of the first mammalian innate immune receptors, our first line of defense against the threat of microorganisms.

Medical entomologist Scott O'Neill explains how an intracellular bacterium could help curb the spread of dengue virus.

Cell biologist Ira Mellman discusses cancer immunotherapy at Genentech.

Changhuei Yang and Guoan Zheng talk about their inexpensive, lens-free biomedical imaging device, which could change the way we do microscopy.

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià and physicist David Weitz discuss the science of cooking.

Lora Hooper talks about the complex bacterial ecosystem in our gut and its important role in metabolism and immunity.

Baruch Fischhoff and Dietram Scheufele discuss the need for a scientific approach to the communication of science.

Structural biologist Pamela Björkman explains how engineering improved versions of naturally occurring antibodies against HIV might make them promising therapeutic agents.

Roland Kanaar explains how elevated temperature augments cancer treatment.

Merlin Hanauer discusses the benefits of protected areas.

Cozzarelli Prize winner Jacob Waldbauer reconstructs the history of oxygen on Earth.

Cozzarelli Prize winners Robert Saye and James Sethian introduce a numerical method to track complex motions.

Economist James Smith discusses the effect of childhood mental problems on adult life.

Erica Machlin Cox and Selena Sagan discuss an unusual interaction that protects the hepatitis C virus from our body's defenses.

George Church discusses the potential of synthetic biology.

Erin Hanlon and Jeanne Duffy introduce their research on sleep, in a recording of the PNAS "Science of Sleep" event held in Washington, DC on March 14, 2012.

Robert Langer and Steven Zeitels describe a polymer gel that could help patients regain lost voice.

Developmental biologist Cliff Tabin explains how genes shape the formation of organs.

Can stem cells help cure Type 1 diabetes? Douglas Melton hopes to find out.

Nancy Adler discusses the need for sex-specific scientific reporting and the role it has played in women's health over the last 20 years.

Psychology experts Daniel Pine and Mark Wiederhold answer fear-related questions from the audience, in second of two recordings from PNAS's "The Science of Fear!" event held in Washington, DC on October 12, 2011.

Psychology experts Daniel Pine and Mark Wiederhold introduce their research on fear, in the first of two recordings from PNAS' "The Science of Fear!" event held in Washington, DC on October 12, 2011.

Daniel Nocera discusses how efficient catalysts can help us store solar energy in the same way plants do.

Molecular biologist Stephen Liberles discusses how prey learn to recognize the scent of a predator.