Radiolab - Return of Alpha Gal

Tuck your napkin under your chin. We’re about to serve up a tale of love, loss, and lamb chops - with a side of genetic modification.

Duration: 1h 3m
Broadcast on: 24 Jul 2026
Audio Format: other

Several years ago, in 2016, we told a story about Amy Pearl. For as long as she could remember, Amy loved meat in all its glorious cuts and marbled flavors. And then one day, for seemingly no reason, her body wouldn’t tolerate it. No steaks. No brisket. No weenies. It made no sense: why couldn’t she eat something that she had routinely enjoyed for decades?

It turned out Amy was not alone. And the answer to her mysterious allergy involved maps, a dancing lone star tick, and a very particular sugar called Alpha Gal.

In this update, we discover that our troubles with Alpha Gal go way beyond food. We go to NYU Langone Health hospital to see the second ever transplant of a kidney from a pig into a human, talk to some people at Revivicor, the company that bred the pig in question, and go back to Amy to find out what she thinks about this brave new world.

The original episode was reported by Latif Nasser, and produced by Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty. Sound design and scoring from Dylan Keefe, Annie McEwen, and Matt Kielty. Mix by Dylan Keefe with Arianne Wack.

The update was reported and produced by Sarah Qari. It was sound designed, scored, and mixed by Jeremy Bloom.

LATERAL CUTS:

How does a tick bit can cause a red meat allergy? - An episode from our friends over at Science Friday, who had a recent conversation with the researcher who discovered the connection, decades ago.

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(air whooshing) RadioLab is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video, a text, or a group chat that never stops. And right now, AT&T has a deal that will keep the connection going. You can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with eligible trade-in. It has the Ultimate Pro camera system and a big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your phone for the new iPhone 18 Pro at AT&T. Connecting changes everything. Required trade-in of $230 or more and eligible plan, terms, and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. - Hello, it's Lulu. It's Summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, which means the ticks, the ticks are out. And also the barbecues are out, you know, hot dogs, hamburgers, ticks, and burning meat, which made me think of today's episode, which combines the two into a wildly eerie, scary, but perhaps hopeful, ethically complex tale. It's one of my all-time favorite radio labs, and we're gonna play it for you today. It is 10 years old, but lucky for you. It has a pretty thrilling scientific update at the end. So here we go. - Yeah, wait, wait, you're listening to Radio Lab. - Radio Lab. - From WNYC. - Hey, hey, hey, hey. - Rewind. - Good. - Okay. - Is your mic on? - Yeah, I'm getting, this is making me nervous. Maybe I should get my happy pen. - Are you allergic to radio greatness? - That I know of. I've been really exposed to it, yeah. (laughs) Anyway, let's go. - Are we rolling? We're going? - We're rolling. - Okay. - I'm Robert Krollich, this is Radio Lab, and today we're gonna begin with a conversation between Dan Pashman.

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Tuck your napkin under your chin. We’re about to serve up a tale of love, loss, and lamb chops - with a side of genetic modification.