Name That Cell, Ancient Genomes, Cell-Cultured Salmon

Summary

Curiosity Weekly Episode Summary: "Name That Cell, Ancient Genomes, Cell-Cultured Salmon"

Release Date: March 12, 2025

Welcome to this episode of Curiosity Weekly, hosted by Dr. Samantha Yamin and produced by Teresa Carey. In this engaging installment, the show delves into the fascinating worlds of ancient viral genomes, the diversity of cellular life, and the innovative frontier of cell-cultured salmon. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of the episode's key segments, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps.

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1. Ancient Viral Genomes with Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer

Overview: Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer, a renowned pathogen evolutionary biologist, discusses his groundbreaking work on resurrecting and analyzing ancient viral genomes. His research provides invaluable insights into how historical pandemics have shaped human evolution and inform our understanding of contemporary viral threats.

Key Discussions:

• Resurrecting Ancient Viruses: Dr. Spencer explains the complexities and significance of extracting viral DNA from historical specimens. "We tried to take advantage of the accumulation of change in the genomes of pathogens to reconstruct their evolution and their history" (13:21).

• Measles Evolution: One of Dr. Spencer's notable achievements is sequencing the oldest human-infecting RNA virus genome from a 1912 measles case. This work estimates that measles diverged from its closest relative, the rinderpest virus, approximately 2,500 years ago, coinciding with the rise of large urban centers (16:56).

• Impact on Modern Pandemics: Drawing parallels between ancient and modern pandemics, Dr. Spencer highlights the emergence of viral variants. "If that's something that we consistently see in pandemics... That's something that we should be particularly cautious about when the next pandemic arises" (21:49).

Notable Quotes:

• "We do not fully understand what drives the emergence of pathogens today." (14:49)

• "The Human Cell Atlas Project wants to understand how every single different type of cell in the body uses that code of DNA." (10:15)

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2. "Name That Cell" – A Cellular Biology Challenge

Overview: In a fun and educational segment, Dr. Yamin and Teresa Carey engage in a game called "Name That Cell," testing their knowledge of various cell types. This interactive quiz not only entertains but also sheds light on the diverse functions and complexities of cells within the human body.

Key Discussions:

• Cell Diversity: The game highlights the vast range of cell types and their specialized roles, emphasizing that "scientists still can't agree on how many different types of cells there actually are."

• Scientific Debates: Teresa Carey discusses the ongoing debates among cell biologists regarding the classification and definition of cell types, likening it to having "their own version of moods" with cells being more "dormant or reactive."

• Future of Cellular Mapping: The conversation touches on the ambitious goal of creating detailed cell atlases, akin to "Google Maps of the human body," to monitor cellular activities in real-time and potentially intervene in processes like aging and disease (09:19).

Sample Quiz Questions and Answers:

1. Blood Clotting Cell:

   • Question: "I'm a small disc-shaped cell that plays a crucial role in blood clotting..."
   • Answer: Platelet (05:05)

2. Defense System Cell:

   • Question: "I patrol for invaders engulfing and digesting bacteria..."
   • Answer: Macrophage (05:34)

3. Smooth Muscle Cell:

   • Question: "I'm long and spindle-shaped, silently keeping your organs functioning..."
   • Answer: Smooth Muscle Cell (06:18)

4. Neuron:

   • Question: "I'm responsible for sending electrical signals through your body..."
   • Answer: Neuron (07:00)

5. Stem Cell:

   • Question: "I have the unique ability to transform into various types of cells..."
   • Answer: Stem Cell (07:51)

Notable Quotes:

• "They can have different states, like, they can be more dormant or reactive." (08:58)

• "Stem cells are like the Swiss army knife of cells." (07:54)

---

3. Cell-Cultured Salmon: The Future of Sustainable Seafood

Overview: The episode transitions to an exploration of cell-cultured salmon, an innovative approach to sustainable seafood production. This segment examines the technology behind lab-grown salmon, its potential benefits, and the challenges it faces before becoming mainstream.

Key Discussions:

• Production Process: Cell-cultured salmon involves extracting cells from a healthy salmon and proliferating them in bioreactors with a precise mix of nutrients. Plant-based scaffolding is used to structure the cells into fibrous tissue, resulting in products like fillets, roe, or sashimi.

• Benefits:

  • Environmental Impact: Lab-grown salmon is free from microplastics and antibiotics commonly found in traditional aquaculture.
  • Nutritional Control: The nutritional content, such as omega-3 fatty acids, can be tailored.
  • Sustainability: With declining wild salmon populations—50% decrease between 1983 and 2016—the demand for sustainable alternatives is high.

• Challenges:

  • Scalability: Current operations are small-scale and expensive, limiting availability primarily to products like sushi.
  • Scientific Validation: Limited independent studies make it necessary for companies to rely on their research.
  • Economic and Environmental Impact: The long-term effects of industrializing cell-cultured salmon production remain uncertain.

Notable Quotes:

• "It's like the impossible burger. But instead of growing beef in a lab, scientists are growing real salmon cells using bioreactors."

• "Cell cultured salmon could help address the high demand and declining supplies of wild salmon."

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4. Conclusion and Recap

In wrapping up the episode, Dr. Yamin and Teresa Carey summarize the key insights:

• "Name That Cell" Game: Highlighted the intricate diversity of cell types and the ongoing scientific discussions surrounding their classification.

• Ancient Viral Genomes: Dr. Spencer's research offers a window into the past, unraveling how ancient pandemics have influenced both human and pathogen evolution, and providing lessons applicable to modern-day viral challenges.

• Cell-Cultured Salmon: Represents a promising avenue for sustainable food production, addressing environmental concerns and supply shortages, though it awaits further development and scaling.

The episode underscores the pivotal role of scientific exploration in understanding our history and shaping our future, from the microscopic workings of cells to the vast impacts of ancient viruses and innovative solutions in food sustainability.

Credits:

• Host: Dr. Samantha Yamin
• Senior Producer & Editorial Correspondent: Teresa Carey
• Producer: Chiara Noni
• Audio Engineer: Nick Karismi
• Head of Production for Wheelhouse DNA: Cassie Berman

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Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on Curiosity Weekly, where science unravels the mysteries of our past and paves the way for future breakthroughs.

Transcript

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

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[Teresa Carey]

So why wouldn't you switch from Verizon or T Mobile?

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Because you have nothing to lose. Boost Mobile is offering a 30 day money back guarantee.

[Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer]

No, I asked. Why wouldn't you switch from Verizon or T Mobile?

[Teresa Carey]

Wouldn't.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Because you love wasting money as a way to punish yourself because your mother never showed you enough love as a child.

[Teresa Carey]

Whoa, easy there.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Yeah.

[Teresa Carey]

Applies to online activations.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

Requires port in and auto pay customers activating in stores may be charged non refundable activation fees.

[Teresa Carey]

Foreign It's a Saturday morning and your to do list is long. Grocery store, pick up dry cleaning, drop off some packages at the post office and oh yeah, get a COVID vaccine. At this point, the vaccine feels like just another errand, like picking up milk or grabbing a bag of dog food. There's no sense of panic, no rush, just routine. There's no line at the pharmacy. You just walk in, roll up your sleeve, and in no time, you're out the door with the little band aid on your arm. It's like we've got it figured out now. Covid. We got a handle on that. But I can't help but wonder, maybe there's another troublemaker, another virus lurking somewhere in some dusty museum basement, patiently biding its time. It didn't make headlines, never turned into a pandemic. But it's still there. And that's the real question. What makes a pandemic? Is it the virus itself or something more? A combination of timing, the world's readiness, and a little bit of bad luck. Because as much as we think we've got it under control, the next one could be lurking around the corner, ready to change everything again. And maybe, just maybe, the secrets to what makes a pandemic aren't in the headlines, but in the forgotten genomes of viruses hidden away in places we've long since stopped looking.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

If you manage to catch a pathogen red handed doing the jump into human populations, most of the time, this would be dead ends for the pathogen. So actually catching real successful pathogen red handed. So the ones that will cause a pandemic, it's extremely difficult.

[Teresa Carey]

Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer is a scientist who's literally resurrecting the genomes of long gone pandemics. Think the 1918 Spanish flu. We'll talk with him to understand how these little troublemakers have shaped human history and still impact us. On the lighter side, I'm going to challenge our senior producer Teresa Carey and you to a lighthearted game I like to call Name that Cell. It's like the Price is Right, but for different types of cells in your body. And later, our favorite seafood, salmon. Well, may not be your favorite, but it is the most consumed fish in North America and fish stocks are declining. So maybe lab cultured salmon could be the answer. I'm Dr. Samantha Yamin. From the micro to the viral, let's dive in. Cells. They're the tiny building blocks of life, the little machines that keep our bodies running. But here's the catch. Scientists still can't agree on how many different types of cells there actually are. So today we're gonna have some fun with it. I'm here with Teresa Carey, our senior producer, to play a little game we like to call Name that Cell. Cell. Teresa, are you ready to test your cell knowledge?

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

I am, but Sam, I'm warning you, I might know more about cells than I let on.

[Teresa Carey]

Oh, I have no doubt, but there are some tricky ones in here. Okay, we did our homework. Here's how it'll work. I'll give you a clue about a type of cell, you'll give me one, and then we're gonna guess which it is, multiple choice. So no worries. You don't have to be a biologist to come up on top.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

And I'll tell you what, I may not be a cell biologist, but it was really fun digging into my college biolo to find ideas for this. And you know, they only give you two cell diagrams. Plant and animal.

[Teresa Carey]

That's it.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

So there's only two cell types and.

[Teresa Carey]

They'Re round one's, round, one's square one's square.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Yeah, exactly. And they look like that jello dish, do you know, with the meat and the peas and different things in it, they look like that. What's that called again? Oh, oh, it's an A word.

[Teresa Carey]

A. A Sips. Aspic.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Aspic. Aspic. Jell. O dish.

[Teresa Carey]

I am never going to think about a cell the same again. It's not pretty accurate. They're basically just like a bag of fluid and fat. So, yeah, jello works. Okay, we're starting off, we're starting off with a fun one. I'm a small disc shaped cell that plays a crucial role in blood clotting. When you get a cut, I rush to the site to help form a clot and stop the bleeding. Without me, even a small injury could be deadly. Your choices are A, neuron, B, platelet, C, white blood cell, or D, stem cell.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Well, there's two Blood choices there. B and C. I'm going to go with platelet.

[Teresa Carey]

Platelet is correct. Ding, ding, ding.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Okay, I got a question for you. I am the powerhouse of the body's defense system. I patrol for invaders engulfing and digesting bacteria. Without me, infections would run rampant. Who am I? A neuron, B, macrophage, C, red blood cell, D muscle cell.

[Teresa Carey]

The only immune cell there. Oh, no. I guess we have two, but I'm gonna go with B. Macrophage.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

That's correct.

[Teresa Carey]

Some people call it macrophage if they're fancy.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Oh, okay. Okay. They're like the cleanup crew.

[Teresa Carey]

Yeah, cleanup crew. Love a macrophage. I got another one for you, Theresa. I'm long and spindle shaped, and I work in the background, silently keeping your organs functioning. My job, to control movements like pushing food through your digestive system or regulating blood flow through your arteries. Am I A, an osteocyte, B, a smooth muscle cell, C, a fibroblast, or D, a dipocyte?

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

I'm pretty sure you made up all of those words. Except smooth muscle cell. So that's the one I'm gonna guess.

[Teresa Carey]

And you would be correct to guess that it is a smooth muscle cell. They're everywhere. They do everything. And they're helpful for those contractions that help move stuff around our body. Thank you. Smooth muscle.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

All right, here's the next one. I'm responsible for sending electrical signals through your body, helping you think, feel, and react to the world around you.

[Teresa Carey]

Okay.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

My long extensions help me reach out and connect with others like me. Who am I? A neuron, B, epithelial cell, C, platelet, D, B cell.

[Teresa Carey]

It sounds to me like a neuron.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

That's correct.

[Teresa Carey]

We have a fun neuron. Fact. The longest neuron in the human body is a motor neuron that extends from the lowest part of your spinal cord all the way down to your big toe, measuring, depending how tall you are, approximately one meter. And it's all a single cell.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

That's crazy.

[Teresa Carey]

Everyone talks about the egg cell as the biggest cell, and it is by diameter, but that's a long cell. Okay, you ready? Next quiz question. I am the master of regeneration. I have the unique ability to transform into various types of cells in your body, helping to repair and replace damaged tissues. You can find me in places like your bone marrow, and I hold the potential for groundbreaking therapies in medicine. A neuron, B, stem cell, C muscle cell, or D, fibroblast.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

That would be stem cell. I know that one.

[Teresa Carey]

Yes.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

They're like the Swiss army knife of cells.

[Teresa Carey]

They do it all. Unlimited potential. Ish.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Mm. That's the last of the questions. So these advances in technology keep reshaping our understanding of cell types, and new techniques are uncovering these different levels of complexity that we didn't understand before. So how would a game of Name that Cell play out if we invited, say, a dozen cell biologists on the show?

[Teresa Carey]

Well, I would certainly grab my popcorn because it would spark some very heated debate. There is really not a consensus on where exactly to even draw the line between cell types. Like, how narrow should the definition for a cell be? And then it gets even messier because you know how humans have different moods? Well, cells, they have their own version of that, their own kind of moodiness. They can have different states, like, they can be more dormant or reactive. And it's safe to say scientists haven't reached a consensus on the best way to even go about defining a cell. As fundamental as cells are, it sounds.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Like a big debate. And then there are moody cells. And now it sounds like we're not doing biology here anymore. With everything we're learning about individual cells, do you think we could eventually reprogram them, like, actually intervene at the cellular level to slow down aging or stop diseases before they even start?

[Teresa Carey]

That's definitely where things are headed. Definitely a goal in the field. Getting this more detailed look at cells means we should be able to eventually get better at detecting the earliest, most subtle signs of disease before someone even starts to feel sick. And that means, hopefully, that you could then figure out a way to intervene sooner. There are cell therapies, like CAR T cells, that can then target specific dangerous cells. We see that already. But if you can now make them target those early warning signs, that could be really interesting. The big challenge here is making sure we do that safely and precisely without unintended consequences. Again, this is all very theoretical and.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Early stages, but what about mapping? With all this single cell data, could we eventually create something like Google Maps of the human body, where we know exactly what every cell is doing in real time?

[Teresa Carey]

Your analogy is perfect because that's very much an active area of research. Scientists are already building these very detailed cell atlases, they call them. They're trying to map out cells all throughout the body. And we already have tens of millions mapped from over 10,000 individuals to date. The goal is to track how cells change over time, when we're developing, as we age, and then even in diseases, and then also add the layer of when we're responding to certain treatments. Right. So, like A cancer therapy. How are cells changing there? How does that change the map and the landscape? There is an international consortium of scientists working towards this goal that I have to shout out because they do really great work. They're called the Human Cell Atlas. And full disclosure, I've done some work with some of their funders and written about them a lot. But they're really cool because the Human Genome Project taught us all about the code of DNA that builds a human. The Human Cell Atlas Project wants to understand how every single different type of cell in the body uses that code of DNA.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Thank you, Sam, for sharing with us.

[Teresa Carey]

Thank you. It was a fun little chat. Teresa.

[Narrator]

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[Teresa Carey]

In the shadows of history, viruses have quietly shaped the course of human life. From ancient plagues to modern pandemics, these invisible forces have left their mark, often without us even realizing it. But what if we could uncover the stories hidden within their genes? Imagine unlocking a virus's ancient past like a time capsule, revealing how it evolved, adapted and spread across generations. Dr. Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer is a scientist on the cutting edge of this genetic exploration. He's delving deep into ancient viral genomes preserved in museum specimens, unearthing secrets from long forgotten outbreaks. He's traced the origins of viruses like measles and flu, even resurrecting the complete genome of the infamous 1918 Spanish flu. Through his work, we're learning how viruses evolve and how past pandemics still shape the ones we face today. Sebastian, welcome to the show. For someone who isn't a pathogen evolutionary biologist, how would you describe what it is you do?

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

In a nutshell, what it does mean in general to be a pathogen evolutionary biologist is that we, we tried to take advantage of the accumulation of change in the genomes of pathogens to reconstruct their evolution and their history and how these evolution and histories are paired with our own history. So we try to understand how we interacted in the past with pathogens and how this has driven their and our evolution. Right. And we actually can extend that beyond the focus on humans and Also ask the same questions with animals. And so the kind of question that I'm particularly interested in are questions about these interfaces between humans and animals and how they have favored sometimes and hindered at other times the transmission of pathogens across species.

[Teresa Carey]

I read that your lab generated the oldest human infecting RNA virus genome to date from a 1912 measles case. You've been passionate about studying these viruses that caused plagues a long time ago and viruses causing issues today. Why are those things connected? Like why does it matter to look into this history? How is studying the viruses of days past gonna help us today?

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

So that's connected in multiple ways. So first thing that is important to realize is that we do not fully understand what drives the emergence of pathogens today, right? Because many of the pathogens that affect mankind actually emerge from the environment or animal reservoirs, right? Under which circumstances it's not absolutely clear. So that's actually a field of research in which I'm engaged as well. And it's not easy, easy to identify these circumstances. And it's even less easy if you think about the fact that most of the time, if you manage to catch a pathogen sort of red handed, doing the jump into human populations, right, Most of the time this would be dead ends for the pathogen, right? So many of the spillovers do not result into sustained human to human transmission, right? So actually catching a real successful pathogen red handed, so the ones that will cause a pandemic or very large outbreaks, it's extremely difficult, right? And when you look back in history, actually you do have the opportunity to just focus on these guys because you know which ones have mattered. So you just mentioned this older specimen, this measles specimen. We know that measles since centuries has killed scores of kids, right? It's a fact, right? So we know that it's a pathogen that matter. So understanding, trying to understand as much as possible about what drove the emergence of measles can provide us with information that can be meaningful even today.

[Teresa Carey]

Do we know when it first made its spillover into humans? I'm just curious when it first started successfully transmitting in humans.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

So actually that was exactly the question that we wanted to ask when we sequenced the genome of this ancient specimen. So we wanted to know when the mesos pandemic had happened. And that's not an easy question to solve. It's very difficult to solve if you have a look at ancient literature. There were also doctors in the middle ages and in antiquity and et cetera. But very often their concept of disease was very different. And they were just like taking notes of things that do not allow us to make sense of what they were describing. And measles is one such case. It's never been very clear when it popped up super clearly in the literature, in the real ancient literature. One way to ask this question is then to use what I was mentioning earlier, genomic variation between measles and the most closely related viruses that exist to try to interpret this genetic distance between these viruses as a measure of time that has passed. We did just that. And what we found was that the divergence of measles and its closest relative, which is called the rinderpes virus, which is a virus that we drove to extinction in cattle through vaccination. So the time of this divergence is approximately 2,500 years ago. Wow. And so that means that potentially the measles pandemic might have happened as early as that might have happened later. But at max, at this moment, at.

[Teresa Carey]

Some point, that modern day version was the ancestor to the modern day version was born at some point.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

Yeah, exactly. And to link back to the question that you asked right before, how does it help to know about this date? It turns out that this period, 2,500 years ago, it's approximately the period when large cities appeared. Right. So basically you could say what we showed with this date estimate was that perhaps the process of urbanization and building large cities was an absolutely major fact in making it possible for measles to persist in humans.

[Teresa Carey]

And where do you find these types of specimens?

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

So the ancient specimens, it's mostly linked to pathology collections, really. But these are not the only source of information about ancient pathogens. So you can also use buried remains. So like archaeological remains, other paleogenomicists do work a lot using these kind of specimens. Aside activities such as sequencing the genomes of humans from earlier time periods, they also have a look at what happened with their pathogens. So that's for the part that is focused on ancient specimens with me, pathology collections rather. But then I also work with wildlife specimens from contemporary ecosystems.

[Teresa Carey]

Take me into one of those rooms with you. How do you know what to look for when you're sifting through old samples? And there are so many.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

So there are two ways of playing this game. The first one is you have a specific project in mind. For example, I'm interested in ancient influenza pandemics. So I will go in such a collection and specifically look for these specimens. And sometimes the other kind of project that we have that is sort of a permanently run project that we just keep our eyes open when we are going through these bottles, and if we see something that just rings a bell, you know, like there's something, okay, this outbreak looks like I heard about it, and it looks like it could be interesting, then we just go at it.

[Teresa Carey]

Not everyone's favorite topic always, but during the COVID pandemic, I know you played a role in studying the variants that emerged. And so I think that's a tangible example of. Of how having looked at viruses over time and understanding their evolution over centuries can inform the modern day. Were there any timely predictions that you and your colleagues were able to make during that period of rapid change in the peak of the pandemic?

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

At the time of the pandemic, to be honest, I was surprised by many things about the pandemic, and it actually got me to think back about other pandemics, ancient pandemics, and just to revisit ancient pandemics with the knowledge that we were progressively building up, studying Covid. Right. So, for example, you mentioned the variants. That's a question that we asked about the 1918 flu pandemic, because we also generated genomes from the 1918 flu pandemic. And there we were in the position to say, okay, does it look like we have any signal for variants to also have emerged during the 1918 flu pandemic? And somehow we had the beginning of a hint that indeed there was something like the kind of massive acceleration of the evolution that we saw for SARS CoV2 for the variants that also happened very likely during the 1918 flu pandemic. Right.

[Teresa Carey]

Oh, interesting. So you were seeing what was happening in real time, and it made you think, huh? I bet that also happened back then. Then you could go back and look at some of your samples and start to piece that puzzle.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

Exactly. And then progressively, while building a better understanding of the pandemics of the past, you know, there's not so many of them.

[Teresa Carey]

Right.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

That we can study. Um, but. But then we can also. So my hope is that we can also identify patterns that hold across pandemics. Right. That then, you know, if. If that's something that we consistently see in pandemics that, okay, we have variant emergence, no matter the virus that was causing the pandemic, et cetera. That's something that we should be particularly cautious about when the. When the next pandemic arise, which. Which will happen. Right.

[Teresa Carey]

You drove the discovery that from the 1918 flu pandemic, that's where the current seasonal. One of the strains for the current seasonal influenza emerged. And so it's to me, interesting to know what was it about that particular version of H1N1 that made it persist even till this day? I feel like that could open up a lot of questions.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

Yeah, absolutely. So you can then focus on specific lineage histories and try to identify what, whether there are particular changes that affect the function of the virus that were maybe very meaningful to allow for its continuous spread, et cetera. So that's totally one of the lines that we follow. We try to identify meaningful mutations exactly like we did for the SARS CoV2 variants, where we also identified mutations that we think have a specific importance.

[Teresa Carey]

Thank you for the fascinating discussion, Seb. It was really insightful to hear from you.

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

Yeah, thank you for the invitation. Sam.

[Teresa Carey]

Open up your fridge. Before you start fridge scaping again, take a moment to check out the labels. You've got your grass fed, organic, plant based, hormone free options. Milk, milk, milk with a Y. Some of the foods in your fridge proudly boast about their origins. And then tucked away in the back, there's that one jar with bold red letters declaring Real. Sure, Jan. The grocery store is a showcase of food shaped by everything, nature, people and science. Which means that soon you might even encounter seafood that's never even touched the water. At the end of the day, we're all just trying to make the right choices for our health, our finances, and the planet. But it's not always easy. Enter cultivated salmon, also known as cell cultured salmon. This could change the way we consume seafood. It's kind of like the impossible burger. But instead of growing beef in a lab, scientists are growing real salmon cells using bioreactors. Here's how it works. First, they extract cells from a regular healthy salmon. From that one harvest of cells, they can essentially make an infinite supply of salmon cells in the lab. To do this, these cells go into a growth medium inside a bioreactor. It's a specialized vessel designed to support cell growth, kind of like the tanks you make beer in. The cells are then fed a precise mix of amino acids, sugar, minerals, and other nutrients that help them to develop properly. Then to give them structure, some companies use a plant based mesh that acts as scaffolding and that allows the cells to form fibrous tissue so it's more flesh. Like. Once harvested, the cells can be combined with ingredients like vegetable proteins for flavor. And just like that, bing, bam, boom, you've got a brainless, skinless, boneless salmon fillet, or salmon roe or sashimi. Take your pick. A company called Wild Type is one of the big players in this area, but several companies are working on lab grown seafood and the benefits here are pretty cool. The cell cultured salmon are free of microplastics, have no antibiotics like you see in aquacultures, and you can control the nutritional value like omega 3s. They also grow much faster than natural salmon and there are potentially environmental advantages of being lab grown. According to the State of Atlantic Salmon report released by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, the number of Atlantic salmon decreased by 50% between 1983 and 2016. But salmon also remains the second most popular form of seafood in the United States. Basically, demand is high and supplies are way, way down. Lab grown salmon could help address that, but there are also some drawbacks. First off, there aren't a ton of scientific studies looking into the process. Companies like Wild Type and Blue Seafood are relying on their own research and experimentation to progress their work. These operations also aren't happening at scale yet, so we don't fully understand the environmental and economic effects of industrializing the process or even the impacts of using all these bioreactors. And since it's so small scale, it's pretty expensive right now and primarily used just for sushi. So while the technology is definitely promising, it seems that we have a bit of ways to go before your favorite sushi bar has cell cultured salmon on its menu. All right, let's recap what we learned. First off, we had a blast testing our cell knowledge in our name that Cell game. I had an amazing conversation with Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer about his groundbreaking research using ancient viral genomes extracted from museum specimens. And to wrap things up, we explored a new technique in sustainable food. Cell cultured salmon. That's fish that have never touched a body of water. From ancient viruses to future food, this episode was all about how science is unlocking mysteries of both our past and our future. Can't wait to see what we uncover next time for Warner Bros. Discovery Curiosity Weekly is produced by the team at Wheelhouse DNA. The senior producer and editorial correspondent is Teresa Carey. Our producer is Chiara Noni. Our audio engineer is Nick Karismi and head of Production for Wheelhouse DNA is Cassie Berman. And I'm Dr. Samantha Youmeen. Thanks for listening.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Aspect is like it's like Jello, but it's a savory jello. It looks like congealed fat, like meat.

[Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer]

Jello.

[Teresa Carey]

I like jello, but the it's the meat in the jello that I like.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Pate this like it's just a Thanksgiving dinner encased in jello. Well, they're different. They're different recipes. It's not just one.

[Teresa Carey]

Margaret's like justice for Aspic. Oh, I. I'm like, such.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

I love jello. I love.

[Teresa Carey]

She's eating it.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

I'm like, such. Yeah, like a. Like a Midwestern. Like Jello mold.

[Teresa Carey]

Like.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Like ambrosia salad. Yes. So good. No, really?

[Sebastian Calvin X. Spencer]

What?

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Like, why, like, what are y'all.

[Teresa Carey]

I just learned about it right now.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Sam, you've never heard of an ambrosia salad?

[Teresa Carey]

No, ma'am.

[Dr. Samantha Yamin]

Don't talk to a Midwesterner about that. They will come after you. We could now have a whole episode on jello.

[Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer]

Your old or broken phone can let you down when you need it most.

[Teresa Carey]

Perfect.

[Dr. Sebastian Kalvanak Spencer]

But at Verizon. Trade in any old phone from our top brands and get the most for it. Up to $2,000 in value for an amazing new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence and a new line on my plan and iPad and apple watch series 10. That's like a three for one. And you can get it on any plan at Verizon. Trade in your old phone for a brand new iPhone 16 Pro, iPad and Apple watch. The other guys won't give you that. Visit verizon.com today. Additional terms apply. Service plan required for Apple Watch and iPad. Up to $2,000. Value based on iPhone, iPad, and Apple watch.