Why insects aren't huge: a new challenge to a decades-old idea

About this episode

This episode discusses why insects are not massive and explores recent research on biological clocks and CRISPR technology in cancer therapy.

00:44 Why insects aren’t massive Research Article :  Snelling et al. 11:39 Research Highlights Nature:  Faster ticking of ‘biological clock’ predicts shorter lifespan Nature :  Mighty mini-magnet is low in cost and light on energy use 14:05 CRISPR creates CAR-T cancer therapy inside mice Research Article:  Nyberg et al. News & Views:  A gene-editing method generates immunotherapeutic CAR T cells in the body Nature:  CRISPR makes enhanced cancer-fighting immune cells inside mice Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered

• insects
• biological clock
• CRISPR
• cancer therapy
• gene editing

Keywords

• insects
• biological clock
• CRISPR
• cancer therapy
• gene editing
• immunotherapy
• research highlights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Springer Nature Limited, Nature, Nature Briefing

Books & works: Why insects aren't huge: a new challenge to a decades-old idea, Snelling et al., Nyberg et al.

More episodes of Nature Podcast

• Briefing Chat: The epic journey of Stonehenge’s central stone · June 12, 2026 · 11 min
• Newly-discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years · June 10, 2026 · 22 min
• Briefing chat: Spinosaurs with salt glands could have lived in marine environments · June 5, 2026 · 11 min
• Your phone can use tiny skin-colour changes to measure your heart rate · June 3, 2026 · 18 min
• Briefing Chat: When to trust eyewitness memory – according to science · May 29, 2026 · 17 min
• Major Ebola outbreak is escalating: what happens next · May 22, 2026 · 12 min