Why people are praising this Huntsville-made genetics podcast

Earlier this summer, some big minds sat down in a conference room in West Huntsville to talk about very small things.

That’s a daily occurrence at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, where genomics – basically, how an organism’s genes work together in its specific environment -- is the name of the game, but what set this session apart was the topic: The genetics that might give Spider-Man and the X-Men their superpowers.

That day, the institute’s Sarah Sharman, Chris Powell and faculty investigator Greg Cooper recorded the latest episode of the “Tiny Expeditions” podcast, a HudsonAlpha production designed to present cutting-edge science on genetics, DNA and inheritance in an accessible -- and entertaining -- way.

Now in its fifth season, the podcast has gained a following and is nominated for two honors in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards. Each season has a theme, from animals and plants to biotech and, now, pop culture. That’s where the X-Men entered the picture.

“I think this season’s probably been the most fun and has challenged me to think about how to bring in science because we’re focused on pop culture -- things that aren’t necessarily all the way real -- and trying to figure out how we can talk about, ‘OK this is far out, but it might be seeded in some scientific truth,’ ” said Sharman, research communications director at HudsonAlpha and co-host of the podcast along with Powell, during a recent interview.

Sharman, who has a doctoral degree in biochemistry and cancer biology, and Powell, manager of video and new media at HudsonAlpha, present genetics-related topics in each episode with help from guests on the institute’s faculty. They’ve been co-hosting since Season 2 and say their strengths work well together.

“I don’t have a science background, so I can step up and say, ‘Sarah, no one’s going to understand that,’” Powell said. “I see my job as 100% storytelling. We’ve been a great complement because Sarah can talk about, ‘Here’s the science involved,’ and then we’ll sit down and craft a narrative arc to try to get from point A to point B, and putting all that together has been a great combination.”

Added Sharman: “I feel lucky working with Chris because I can bring wild ideas, and he makes them into something people can listen to.”

Each season has at least six episodes. Powell counts as one of his favorites the pair’s first together back in Season 2: A look at how HudsonAlpha researchers pitched in after Auburn University’s Toomer’s Corner iconic oak trees were poisoned by an irate football fan in 2010. The institute’s Alex Harkess worked to sequence the trees’ genome and develop a college course where students could contribute to the work.

“I grew up in the South and I’m a big football fan, and we got to have some fun and in the name of research got to go down to a game and get some sound,” Powell said.

Tiny Expeditions has been nominated for Best Science and Medicine Podcast – it was also nominated last year -- and the People’s Choice Award. Finalists in each of the awards’ 32 categories will be announced by Aug. 6. The final slate is partly a function of the number of nominations a show receives; nominations are open until July 31. Winners will be announced in conjunction with International Podcast Day on Sept. 30.

The podcast seems to be resonating with listeners, Sharman and Powell said, and will be back for a sixth season, though the theme remains to be determined.

“The core of what we try to do is make science understandable and accessible to people,” Sharman said. “If we can have our listeners understand and believe in the power of genomics – while also entertaining them -- then I think we’ve hit our goal.”