The Vulnerable Scientist

Lilian Mbaisi Angong'o is an OWSD Ph.D. Fellow at the University of Rhodes University in South Africa. She is originally from Kenya and has done her BSc in Biomedical Science and Masters in Bioinformatics, both from the University of Nairobi. She developed an interest in Malaria research in KEMRI and has managed to still do in her Ph.D. where she was able to continue with the work she started in her MSc research. Her work is revolutionary after she was part of the team that discovered a microbe that was able to block malaria and be an alternative to insecticides at ICIPE.Lily came to the podcast not knowing that she had a story to tell but ended up giving us 5+ hours of candid conversation about her journey in science and how her interest in bioinformatics was sparked. You will come to learn that she is such a good storyteller and able to give a detailed account of how it came to be. She also gives a clear picture of what it is like being a university student for over 8 years now in the quest to learn and do well.Feel free to reach out too if you want to talk about a certain topic in the science career space or anything as a scientist that might have nothing to with science but affects scientists. The podcast is on social media @TVscientistPod and Website; TheVulnerablescientist.com.You can support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thevulnerablescientist) on Patreon or Paypal sarahnyanchera(at)gmail or Mpesa at (254)0718-896-962 under Sarah Nyakeri.

The announcement by the government, after a cabinet meeting on October 3, 2022, chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto, that it had lifted the ban on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) after a 10-year suspension has led to various reactions from Kenyans. In this episode, we get a reaction from a typical Kenyan who houses 9 kids and a mathematician.Dr Lucy Muthoni is a senior lecturer in the department of mathematics at Strathmore University for Mathematics and Actuarial science. She has a PhD in Mathematics (Mathematical Finance) with a strong background in Actuarial Science and risk management. Dr Lucy is a wide reader and the information given in this episode is based on what she has read and not an expert in the field.The Key takeaway is as a Kenyan, she is happy about the ban being lifted since this means she doesn't have to worry about food, especially with climate change. and hoping In the following episodes, I will be talking to 2 Kenyan Biotech experts, both previous and current employees of the National Biosafety authority in Kenya.Music Credit: Dance like Mike, Beats Composed by Scoobadive, Produced by Scoobadive. Release date September 30, 2022, Downloaded on October 13th 2022.The Vulnerable scientist Podcast is a space for a scientist to tell their honest and authentic stories.Support: https://www.patreon.com/thevulnerablescientist

The announcement by the government, after a cabinet meeting on October 3, 2022, chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto, that it had lifted the ban on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) after a 10-year suspension has led to various reactions from Kenyans. In this episode, we get a reaction from a Kenyan who has made and eaten a GMO before as a Plant Biotechnologist (Susan Moenga).Dr Susan Moenga who is a Plant Biotechnology expert and whose previous research has seen her make a GMO plant before gives her views on the Ban. She also explains why she would prefer calling it genetic engineering instead of genetic modification since genetic modification is a bit wide and may have no intent. Dr. Susan currently works as a Post-doc at ICRISAT and computational biologist at Nucicer.The Key takeaway is we have been eating GM foods in Kenya the conventional way but not genetically modified foods at the molecular level known as genetic engineering which is what was recently accepted. She also encourages not to put Genetic modification to be of plants only but the possibility of more in other areas of research. In the following episodes, I will be talking to a Kenyan Biotech expert who has worked for the National Biosafety authority in Kenya for years.Music Credit: Dance like Mike, Beats Composed by Scoobadive, Produced by Scoobadive. Release date September 30, 2022, Downloaded on October 13th 2022.The Vulnerable scientist Podcast is a space for a scientist to tell their honest and authentic stories.Support: https://www.patreon.com/thevulnerablescientist