As a kid, all Vincent Lynch wanted to do was hang out by the river near his home, fishing and crabbing and playing in the muck. School, by contrast, was a bore. Then he discovered biology—and never looked back. Today, as an evolutionary biologist at the University at Buffalo, Lynch studies the genomic history of animals both living and extinct to understand everything from why elephants don’t get cancer to why women go into labor. In this episode of Driven to Discover, Lynch talks to host Tom Dinki about what it means to run a “curiosity-driven” lab, why resurrecting extinct species is a bad idea, and how analyzing animal genes could help humans lead longer, healthier lives.

Credits: 
 
Host: Tom Dinki
Guest: Vincent Lynch
Writer/Producer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group 

Coming May 6: Earthworms enjoy a pretty good rep. In truth, they’re an invasive species in the Northeast, not always a friend to our gardens, and a real menace to our forests. But they can be beneficial too. In this episode, ecologist Nick Henshue sheds light on the poorly understood creature, explaining how we can exploit its benefits while minimizing its potential for harm.