July 2, 2004, Hour One: Mad Cow Disease Update / Eric Kandel

Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > July > July 2, 2004:
Hour Two: Mad Cow Disease Update / Eric Kandel

What can sea slugs and mice tell us about how memories are stored? In this hour of Science Friday, Ira talks with Nobel laureate Eric Kandel about the molecular basis of memory, and his life in science. Kandel shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Arvid Carlsson and Paul Greengard, "for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system." He is known for his work using the sea slug Aplysia, an animal with just a few simple nerve cells, to investigate the chemical and physical changes that occur in nerve cells during learning and memory processes.

Plus, we'll get an update on mad cow disease in the U.S. A second round of tests indicates that a cow recently suspected to be carrying the BSE prion was not infected after all. Should the first test have been made public? And how reliable is the USDA's new testing system for beef? Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

Guests:
Alex Ardans
Director, California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System
Professor, Medicine and Epidemiology
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis
Davis, California

Eric Kandel, M.D.
2000 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Professor of Physiology and Psychiatry, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior
Columbia University Medical Center
Senior Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
New York, New York

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth

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