Special Episode - WrappER: A cloak that safeguards your health! (uOttawa SciComm 2023)

In this episode, Dr. Luca Pellegrini is interviewed by Olivia Hillier, with narration by Andrew Cao, from the University of Ottawa. Dr. Pellegrini is a new professor in the department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology and is an expert on mitochondria and  inter-organelle contacts. He joins us to discuss his team’s most recent paper, published in Cell Reports (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108873). This publication describes his team’s discovery of the “wrappER”, a microscopic superhero in your body that plays a vital role in keeping you in top shape. Dr. Pellegrini takes us through the history of inter-organelle contacts research, the intriguing results detailed in his paper, and the broader implications of his findings to human health. 

Learn more: https://www.pellegrinilab.com/

0:27 | Podcast team introduction
0:42 | Meet the wrappER, the cloak that safeguards your metabolic health.
2:02 | Meet Dr. Luca Pellegrini, the founder of the wrappER.
3:00 | How did Dr. Pellegrini come to study the wrappER?
3:46 | Why does Dr. Pellegrini like history so much?
4:41 | When did researchers start to consider how contacts between organelles may be important?
5:58 | Diseases related to defects in inter-organelle contacts.
6:48 | What you need to know about  Anastasia et al., 2021: the paper that discovered and defined the wrappER.
8:12 | The wrappeR's structure is like a burrito.
8:43 | Are all mitochondria wrapped by the wrappER?
9:01 | The wrappER is not limited to liver cells.
9:38 | What else can the wrappER wrap?
10:12 | Dynamics of the wrappER and mitochondria.
11:32 | How long did it take to make these discoveries of the wrappER?
11:44 | The team behind the discovery.
12:40 | What the wrappER can teach us about how our bodies regulate fat.
13:18 | The wrappER and treatments for fat-related diseases and disorders.
13:55 | Dr. Pellegrini's plans as a new profressor and principal investigator at the University of Ottawa.
14:22 | Wrapping up: thank you to Dr. Pellegrini

Podcast by Andrew Cao (Narrator and Post-Production), Olivia Hillier (Interviewer), Olivia Sommers (Producer), & Anna Wang (Writer-Editor).

Music:
“The Launch” by Chronox (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chronox_2/)  
This song can be found on the Free Music Archive (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chronox/Voyager/Chronox_-_01_-_The_Launch/)

“Nocturnal (BGM)” by LEMMiNO (https://www.lemmi.no/)  

“Thannoid” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)  

“Are We Loose Yet” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)   

“Here” by Hyson (https://iamhyson.bandcamp.com/)