Launching UW’s first iGEM team changed the course of Ingrid’s career. Her team built an enzyme to digest gluten that took first place in the biotech competition — and fueled a new company. Hear Ingrid explain what it takes to translate scientific breakthroughs into real products and companies. // This podcast was produced at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine by Ian Haydon, Roni Weissman, Enisha Sehgal, Nora McNamara-Bordewick, Riti Biswas, Joe Min, and Nathan Forest Greenwood. // Music by Kevin MacLeod and Ingrid's college band, The Wild Types.

Yuliya Politanska’s path to science began with onion cells and a microscope in her hometown of Chernivtsi, Ukraine. As a teen, she moved to the U.S. and grew comfortable speaking English only after propping a dictionary right next to her textbooks. Now a third-year PhD student in the lab, Yuliya is designing custom proteins that bind to DNA to control how cells behave—work that could one day help repair diseased or damaged tissue. In this episode, Yuliya shares her story of resilience, curiosity, and reinvention: from working in an ambulance to finding confidence in a massive research lab. Along the way, we explore the concept of cellular plasticity—and how people, like cells, can totally transform when placed in new environments. // This podcast was produced at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine by Ian Haydon, Roni Weissman, Enisha Sehgal, Nora McNamara-Bordewick, Riti Biswas, Joe Min, and Nathan Forest Greenwood. // Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Centuries ago, explorers set sail across vast oceans. Today, scientists like Alexis Courbet are navigating uncharted waters at the nanoscale. As a researcher at the Institute for Protein Design, Alexis is building molecular machines unlike any seen before—creating nanoscale sensors and protein-based rotors that move with atomic precision. Whether designing molecules or mapping out his next mountaineering adventure with David Baker, he approaches every frontier with the same curiosity and drive to understand the unknown. // This podcast was produced at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine by Ian Haydon, Roni Weissman, Enisha Sehgal, Nora McNamara-Bordewick, Riti Biswas, Joe Min, and Nathan Forest Greenwood. // Music by Kevin MacLeod.