Assigned Scientist at Bachelor‘s – Details, episodes & analysis

In this the first episode of Trans Medicine March - the one month of the year where this podcast is specifically and explicitly about being trans, and specifically aspects of medical transition - we begin with a consideration of how time in space affects the human body in general, and how being someone who has medically transitioned might interact with that. Also NASA: Send Tessa to space already. 

Sources, further reading, and a transcript are available at our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2023/03/14/episode-62/

The show is on Twitter (for now) @ASABpod,Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

If you're trans and/or non-binary in science and would like to appear as a guest, please fill out our interest form: https://forms.gle/deQLoL4iYG6v1Qfq9 

Thank you for listening! 

In this episode which is definitely right on time for Valentine's Day, Charles tells Tessa about a paper he read on the fruitless gene (originally identified in Drosophila melanogaster, the "laboratory fruit fly") and its possible control over the courtship behavior in Blattella germanica, the "German cockroach," another classic model organism. Tangents of variable length include how crucial genitals are to entomology, the placement of cockroaches in the insect family tree, and how cockroaches never get their due respect. 

Show notes and a transcript are available for the episode on our website: https://asabpodcast.com/2023/02/20/episode-61/

The show is on Twitter (for now) @ASABpod,Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

If you're trans and/or non-binary in science and would like to appear as a guest, please fill out our interest form: https://forms.gle/deQLoL4iYG6v1Qfq9 

Thank you for listening! 

In this episode we're joined by MD-PhD student Laurel Hiatt, whose work focuses on somatic mosaicism, or the differences between individual cells, specifically in the human colon. We talk about genetic mosaicism, cancer risk, why the colon causes so many problems, and how Laurel's work will (hopefully) help develop tools to improve screening and colorectal disease prevention. 

You can find Laurel on Twitter @laurel_hiatt. 

A transcript and show notes for this episode are available on our website: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/07/13/episode-53/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

In this special holiday episode, we talked about Syngnathidae (the family of ray-finned fishes including pipefish, seahorses, and sea dragons), particularly Hippocampus spp. (seahorses) and their unusual reproductive strategy of male pregnancy. We talk about the physiology of seahorses' pregnancy, with tangents about the complexity of biological sex and reproductive strategies, other fish, evolution, and philosophy of biology. 

A transcript and show notes are available on our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/06/20/episode-52/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

In this episode we're joined by geneticist and artist Robin Aguilar to talk about their research using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to visualize DNA, brush up on some basic genetics, and discuss a new episode-ending question, of which era of geologic time we'd travel to if we somehow got a trip in a time machine. We also touch on Robin's advocacy work in science, particularly with Genome Sciences Association for the Inclusion of Marginalized Students (GSAIMS). 

Robin can be found on Twitter @seesmallthings or their website here. 

A transcript and show notes are available on our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/06/09/episode-51/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

This week we're joined by quantum physics student Lyra Cronin. We talk about the meaning of quantum physics, Lyra's work with nitrogen vacancy centers in diamonds, the possibilities of quantum computing, and when to become (and die as) a robot. 

We don't mention it in the episode, but Lyra can be found on Twitter @Seranyx. 

A transcript and show notes are available on our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/05/23/episode-50/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

Like most gay people, we have now watched the HBO series Our Flag Means Death (full season 1 available now!). Unlike most gay people, Charles is a PhD candidate in history and philosophy of biology. In this episode, we touch on several topics in history of science touched on in the show: Linnaean taxonomy and binomial nomenclature, phrenology, and scurvy (caused by humans' inability to synthesize our own Vitamin C, setting us apart from most vertebrates). 

A transcript and show notes are available on our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/05/09/episode-49/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

In this episode we're joined by science superstar (pun intended) Lucianne Walkowicz to talk about their research, who space belongs to (including whether it can "belong" to anyone), and how gay space is. Charles also defends leeches (they probably won't give you diseases!), the animal, but not leeches, metaphor for the capitalist class. 

Lucianne is all over, but can be found on Twitter @RocketToLulu

Show notes (including sources) and a transcript are at our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/04/23/episode-48/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

Warning for this episode that we are talking at length about reproductive anatomy and genitals, the effect of testosterone and genital reconstruction of the clitorophallus. 

The second in our two-part series on genitals medical transition, in this one we talk about the history and procedures of metoidioplasty and phalloplasty, as well as possibilities for the future. 

Show notes (including sources) and a transcript are at our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/03/31/episode-47/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!

Warning for this episode that we are talking at length about reproductive anatomy and genitals, particularly vaginoplasty as a gender-affirming surgery. This episode includes frank discussion of vaginoplasty as a procedure, as well as Tessa's personal experience. 

The first in a two-part series on trans people and genitals, this episode focuses on vaginoplasty, with an explanation of embryonic sexual differentiation, a brief history of vaginoplasty in the 20th century as part of medical transition, and the primary method used up to the present day. 

Show notes (including sources) and a transcript are at our website here: https://asabpodcast.com/2022/03/27/episode-46/

The show is on Twitter @ASABpod, Charles @cockroacharles, and Tessa @spacermase. 

Our intro music is by Nicole Petkovich. 

Thank you for listening!