The Shark Inside You | Episode 3 | Swimming with Shadows Podcast Series

Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

From the Radiolab podcast: Can sharks cure cancer?

This is episode three of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks.

Today we take a trip across the world, from the south coast of Australia to … Wisconsin. Here, scientists are scouring shark blood to find one of nature’s hidden keys, a molecular superhero that might unlock our ability to cure cancer: shark antibodies. They’re small. They’re flexible. And they can fit into nooks and crannies on tumors that our antibodies can’t.

We journey back 500 million years to the moment sharks got these special powers, and head to the underground labs transforming these monsters into healers. Can these animals we fear so much actually save us?

Special thanks to Mike Criscitiello, David Schatz, Mary Rose Madden, Ryan Ogilvie, Margot Wohl, Sofi LaLonde, and Isabelle Bérubé.

EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Becca Bressler
Produced by Becca Bressler and Matt Kielty
Original music from Matt Kielty and Jeremy Bloom
Sound design contributed by Matt Kielty, Jeremy Bloom and Becca Bressler
With mixing help from Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by Diane Kelly
And edited by Pat Walters

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The Shark Inside You | Episode 3 | Swimming with Shadows Podcast Series | Full Episode

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