Our cells perform an amazingly vast variety of tasks within our body, from the brain cells that transfer the electronic impulses related to thoughts, to the white blood cells that wage war on harmful foreign intruders. Perhaps even more remarkable, almost all of our cells are different interpretations of the same exact code: our unique DNA sequence. Using musicians and conductors interpreting a score as a metaphor, Epigenome: The Symphony in Your Cells explains how cells reading from the same code are able perform distinct functions, and how chemicals can alter these functions over time.
Could we harness epigenomics to become master DNA conductors?
Director: Thom Hoffman

videoBiology
Explore a bioluminescent world of cellular life via cutting-edge microscopy
27 minutes

videoMathematics
Why is a mathematician studying fungus?
3 minutes

videoGenetics
Chimeras and lightning: a radical perspective on the evolution of complex life
6 minutes

videoEvolution
Cell growth simulations reveal life-like emergence in stunning digital art
5 minutes

videoMusic
Can biofeedback help to unlock the mysteries of music’s therapeutic effects?
6 minutes

videoBiology
For 3 billion years, life was unicellular. Why did it start to collaborate?
4 minutes

videoCognition and intelligence
Leaping from firing neurons to human behaviour is tempting, but it’s a perilous gap
3 minutes

videoConsciousness and altered states
Why don’t we feel pain in dreams? The answer might lie in a new frontier of neuroscience
9 minutes

videoIllness and disease
How our bodies can create billions of defences against disease with just 20,000 genes
3 minutes