They've beaten the Archers!

Last weekend’s podcast also broke into the Top 40 of all UK podcasts, briefly giving Russell Brand a run for his money, and hit the Top 20 in the US charts.

Blood Culture, a techno thriller addressing issues of the commodification of the body, was created by University of Brighton lecturers Lance Dann and Phil Connolly. It combines music, humour and bleeding edge science to create a digital whodunnit.  

Dann developed the story of Blood Culture “so that it feels like a work of science fiction but is actually science fact.  Everything presented in the series is possible, feasible and probably happening now”.

He and Connolly talked with experts and researchers across the country including colleagues at the University of Brighton Dr Claire Marriott, Senior Lecturer in Biology, and Simone Weeks, Lecturer Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.

Dr Lance Dann

Dann said: “We wanted to make something that addressed development in stem cell science and the ethics of bio-technology while at the same time including a fair few fist fights, some tough female protagonists, a series of related web-sites and even an interactive SMS game.

“It’s fantastic to see the podcast take off like it has - and it’s about time something a little bit different and exciting reached the top of the iTunes charts … with apologies to fans of The Archers.”

Blood Culture was produced in conjunction with Resonance 104.4FM, the University of Brighton,  the University of Sussex, and The Wellcome Trust.

You can watch a trailer of Blood Culture or subscribe via iTunes.