I started my YouTube channel during my undergraduate degree after being inspired by the lovely videos by Kurzgesagt. Animation has always been a big part of my life, as well as sharing my love for science as a science communicator. I hope that combining these two interests has created a valuable resource for anybody interested in learning more about the human body, how things can go wrong in disease, and how medications can help treat patients.
Since creating this channel in 2018, I have over 70 thousand subscribers, some of my videos are used in university curriculums, and I have made more custom videos for the UBC Biology Department for first and second year Biology courses.
Most recent video
Video Transcripts
Below is a list of transcripts and references from my recent videos. If you would like to use any of my videos, please contact me at andy[at]hancocklab.com
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Christmas Disease and Hemostasis
Happy holidays everyone! In keeping with the holiday theme, I thought this would be a great time to talk about Christmas Disease. Christmas disease is when, after kissing a stranger under the mistletoe, you develop a fever and sore throat. Okay, I’m kidding, that’s not Christmas disease. That’s probably mono. Patients with Christmas disease, now…
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CAR T Cells: Harnessing the Immune System to Beat Cancer
It’s 1996. The doctor has bad news for Doug Olson. He’s just been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, one of the most common types of blood cancer in adults. Fast-forward to 2010 – his cancer is still not under control despite years of chemotherapy, and he’s running out of options. He decides to join a…
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Opioid Drugs (Part 1)
Pain is one of the worst sensations a person can experience. Thankfully, we have access to one of the most powerful classes of painkillers: opioid drugs. Some examples you might know of are morphine, oxycodone, heroin, and fentanyl. While these are excellent painkillers, opioid drugs are also one of the most widely abused and deadliest…
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Opioid Drugs (Part 2)
In Part 1, we discussed how opioids relieve pain by turning off certain neurons in our brain and spinal cord, activating the descending pathway of pain inhibition and deactivating the ascending pathway of pain sensation. In Part 2, we are going to apply these concepts of neurobiology to explain why opioids can be so addictive…
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Pharmacogenomics
Imagine this: you’re a new mother, having just given birth to healthy baby boy. Unfortunately, the delivery has left you with debilitating post-partum pain. Your doctor prescribes you a painkiller, which really helps but also makes you feel drowsy, tired, and sometimes constipated. At the same time, you notice that your son isn’t breastfeeding very…