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Geneticist Spencer Wells presents a broad view of the DNA Testing industry from its beginnings to its broader acceptance by the general public. Now an individual can, for the first time in history, read his own genetic blueprints.
S1E5 • Curiosity Retreats: 2016 Lectures • 2016 • Health
By the close of the Industrial Revolution, the American food supply was tainted with frauds, fakes and legions of new and untested chemicals, dangerously threatening the health of consumers. Based on the book by Deborah Blum, The Poison Squad tells the story of government chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley who, determined to banish these dangerous substances from dinner tables, took on the powerful food manufacturers and their allies. Wiley embarked upon a series of bold and controversial trials on 12 human subjects who would become known as the “Poison Squad.” Following Wiley’s unusual experiments and tireless advocacy, the film charts the path of the forgotten man who laid the groundwork for U.S. consumer protection laws, and ultimately the creation of the FDA.
American Experience • 2020 • Health
DNA testing is becoming more and more common. People are making important health and life decisions based off this data, despite these tests being largely inaccurate.
S1E3 • A User's Guide to Cheating Death • 2017 • Health
Lyme disease, a mysterious tick-borne illness, is the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the United States, and over the past decade, the tick that carries Lyme has been spreading across Canada with alarming speed. Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease, is a fascinating and eye-opening documentary that explores a disease that has devastating effects, is often misdiagnosed and mistreated, and continues to be mired in a medical controversy. More than 30,000 cases are reported in the USA every year, but the real number could be as high as 300,000. And despite hard evidence that the Lyme-carrying, deer tick has already established populations across Canada, some people claim that patients here are still being told that they cannot contract Lyme in this country. Doctors agree that if it’s caught early Lyme disease can usually be cured with two to four weeks of antibiotics. There are others who believe that if it’s not caught early, the infection can develop into a debilitating condition they call Chronic Lyme. Yet unlike West Nile, Encephalitis or SARS, where the medical profession and scientists joined forces to find better treatments or a cure, many patients, who claim to have chronic Lyme, say that they are being denied treatment and left to suffer. So why is this happening?
S53E02 • The Nature of Things • 2013 • Health
Food Choices focuses on how the food we consume affects not only our personal health, but that of the entire planet. Filmmaker Michael Siewierski takes an in-depth look at how the consumption of animal products has a long-lasting, negative effect on the earth’s biosphere. Not only does he report on facts relating to the unethical treatment of animals raised for human consumption, but he also addresses the addition of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and antibiotics to animal feed. This trickle-down effect results in the poisoning of both our bodies and the planet.
2016 • Health
Think you know your baby? Think again. This beautifully shot, heart-warming and scientifically revealing film, narrated by Martin Clunes, brings you babies as you've never seen them before. The first two years of our lives are the most critical of all. We grow more, learn more, move more and even fight more than at any other time in our life. We have to master the complex skills of walking, talking and relating to the world around us. But we are not yet built like an adult. We have more bones in our body at birth than an adult does, yet we don't have kneecaps. We laugh 300 times a day as a baby, but in the first few months we can't produce tears when we're upset. Secret Life of Babies reveals all these facts and more, telling incredible stories of babies' resilience and survival skills to boot. This film will surprise, move, amaze and delight all those who have ever come into contact with a baby, whilst taking you from the moment of birth, through to the point where language begins, memories start to kick in, and a new phase of their lives takes over. This is the Secret Life of Babies.
2014 • Health