This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH

THE DNA of domestic cats is bundled up into 38 chromosomes. Each chromosome is a long, tightly packed string of DNA that contains many different genes. The concept of a “gene” as a discrete unit of heredity dates back to before the discovery of DNA.
In the 20th century, it was realised that some regions of DNA are operated on by molecular machines in the cell, turning their encoded sequence into RNA and then into proteins, short-lived molecules that are involved in almost all cellular processes.
These DNA regions are what we now call genes. There is some nuance in this: for example, some regions of a gene are not turned into protein themselves and instead play a role in how exactly this happens.

A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

