Brains Matter episode 114 - Synthetic Chemistry and Type 2 Diabetes

In this episode, the Ordinary Guy talks to Corin Storkey, from the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. Corin is a synthetic organic chemist, and spoke to me about some of the research he was doing in synthesising naturally occurring chemicals to enable cheaper drugs to be produced, such as for Type 2 diabetes.

Corin talked about:

- Life as a PhD student
- What type 2 diabetes is
- Some of the causes of diabetes
- The effects of type 2 diabetes
- Glycoside inhibitors, and how these were used in this research
- Finding the compounds used in traditional medicines (eg Ayurveda) and isolating these to use in modern drug research
- How do these compounds help with Type 2 diabetes?
- What are the shortcomings?
- What can people do to help them deal with Type 2 diabetes?

Listen in and find out more.

Brains Matter is a podcast out of Australia, which features stories on science, curiosities and general knowledge. It also features interviews with various experts in science and other interesting areas.

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