These days it can be very tempting to turn off the news, shut down the negativity on social media and find one’s happy place. Some of you escape into the world of cute pet videos or following animal accounts on Instagram (may I recommend my own furry friend @rorythesheprador?). Book sales have surged and Netflix added 26 million global subscribers to its streaming service during the first half of 2020, only two million shy of its 2019 total of 28 million.
If you are looking for some regenerative medicine-themed diversion on Netflix, consider these shows:
- “Altered Carbon” – Alyse Sue talks about it on Medium.
- “Unnatural Selection” – I’ve already reviewed it here.
- Timothy Caulfield’s “A User’s Guide to Cheating Death” – I’m cheating (sorry) a little here as Netflix is no longer carrying this series. However, if enough people ask for it back, it could return. Here is how you go about asking. I blogged about the show when it was airing on Vision TV. Here’s a teaser to see whether you’d like the full series to be available again.
On the big screen
While a Stage 3 designation in Ontario, and other parts of Canada and the world, means we can now resume movie-going, in a movie theatre, with other people who don’t live with us, Hollywood is holding back.
In July, The Globe and Mail reported that “…there were 50 titles from major Hollywood studios that were dated for release in 2020.” But that number has dropped to 19. “We can only expect that number [19] to shrink as studios take a hard look at the reality on the ground and decide on the few strategies available to them.”
When the studios are ready to release their blockbusters, here are a couple of options to watch for related to regenerative medicine and gene therapy (always popular in science fiction and superhero story lines).
Is the regenerative medicine “poster boy” with the X-rated vocabulary at the top of your list? Are you wondering when Deadpool 3 is being released? Me too. Here’s what some Hollywood watchers say.
Sony is in production to produce a movie about Jackpot, a not well-known superhero. Hypebeast shares this description: “A scientist named Sara Ehret, who, during her pregnancy, was focusing on gene therapy research when she was accidentally exposed to a special virus simply known as Lot 777. While her baby was born healthy, the virus had altered her own DNA, giving her superhuman strength. Putting this to good use, she suits up to become Jackpot and begins to fight crime.” Fun.
Slight detour
Over at The Niche, Dr. Paul Knoepfler’s stem cell blog, a new science hype award, called “The Screamers,” is being proposed (so named for journalism slang for a headline that is designed to attract attention. Many of us just call that click bait.) I think Dr. Knoepfler will have lots of fun with “The Screamers” and I hope he has a category for movies that ridiculously portray the science in our field.
Podcasts
Here are a few.
The Stem Cell Podcast is hosted by Daylon James and Dr. Arun Sharma. The show covers the top recent science and invites leading scientists to be interviewed. In 2016 it was acquired by STEMCELL Technologies.
The Business of Biotech is hosted by Matt Pillar, Chief Editor of BioProcess Online. The show covers “organizational, funding, HR, regulatory, and CMC considerations” with insight from industry leaders who have gone from bench to bedside. The podcast is supported by Cytiva, formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences.
The Code of Life is hosted by Randene Neill for Genome BC. Check out the health-related episodes. Under the same name, there is a CRISPR podcast episode that interviews Drs. Jennifer Doudna and Feng Zhang.
I know I could go on by listing more podcasts and also books, but I’d rather hear from you. Please add your favourites in the comments. What are you reading, watching or listening to?
Deadpool, brushing up on gene therapy science
Stacey Johnson
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