Project Description

Science has always strived to understand the riddles of the universe around us, but the biggest mystery of all lies under our nose and under our skin. Understanding human bodies and their transformations across our lifetime has fascinated scientists, medics and bio-engineers for centuries. GROWING UP LIVE supported by Science Foundation Ireland as part of Science Week 2018 will unlock our understanding of a human lifetime in front of a live studio audience over the course of three consecutive nights.

Presented by Angela Scanlon live from the amazing Anatomy Museum in Trinity College Dublin, it will look at the extraordinary development of humans from birth to death, from infancy to old age. Assisting Angela are the Growing Up Live resident science siblings Deirdre and Ruairi Robertson, who will be treating the audience to live science experiments every night.

Episode one begins with the newborn baby and will chart its growth and development from birth to adolescence. Moving into adulthood, episode two largely deals with science of peak performance, love, attraction and reproduction while the third episode unravels the secrets of successful ageing and tackles the efforts to extend longevity.

From genetics to gerontology, this show exemplifies science by stealth and will delve not only into biology, but also technology and engineering in a series of utterly relatable questions. How do babies acquire language? Why do teenagers takes risks? Why are we attracted to some people and not to others? Why do we go bald or grey? How can we live longer? With a mix of thought-provoking inserts, expert guests, audience participation and live studio experiments it sorts the fact from the fiction.