About this episode

This episode discusses a massive trial on the effectiveness of off label cancer treatments and highlights recent research in microbial behavior and human evolution.

In this episode: 00:46 A massive trial assessing the outcomes of ‘off label’ cancer treatment Research Article:   Verkerk et al . 12:49 Research Highlights Nature:   Microbial hockey: bacteria can spin a ‘puck’ just by swimming Nature:   Regular physical activity in midlife cuts risk of early death 15:14 10,000 years of western Eurasian evolution Nature:   Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution Research Article:   Akbari et al. Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,   Spotify ,   YouTube Music   or your favourite podcast app.   An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast   is available too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered

• cancer treatment
• off label treatments
• clinical trials
• human evolution
• microbial research

Keywords

• cancer
• off label
• clinical trial
• microbial hockey
• human evolution
• ancient genome
• physical activity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Springer Nature Limited, Nature, Nature Briefing, Acast

Books & works: Giant cancer study reveals effectiveness of 'off label' treatments, Verkerk et al., Akbari et al.

More episodes of Nature Podcast

• Inside the evidence revolution — how decision-making became data driven · April 24, 2026 · 26 min
• Meet Ace, the table-tennis robot that can beat elite players · April 22, 2026 · 26 min
• Briefing Chat: Penguins pick up PFAS pollution · April 17, 2026 · 15 min
• Behind the scenes with Artemis II’s scientists during the historic Moon fly-by · April 10, 2026 · 14 min
• Briefing Chat: The tongue trick that helps sunbirds suck · April 8, 2026 · 14 min
• Artemis II is go: humans head to the Moon after half-century absence · April 2, 2026 · 15 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Nature Podcast podcast page.