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GROWING UP LIVE *Across 3 nights on RTÉ One*

Angela Scanlon Growing Up Live Image Name: Angela Scanlon Growing Up Live
Growing Up Live MCU Angela on balcony Image Name: Growing Up Live MCU Angela on balcony

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 an amazing Anatomy Museum in 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 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.

Over three consecutive nights – 13, 14 and 15 November – it explores weighty topics such as language acquisition, brain development and DNA replication all through the prism of a family entertainment show and mixed with famous Irish personalities, relatable ordinary and extraordinary punters and fun live experiments. The audience at home will always have something to keep them watching. Meanwhile, our studio audience, representing a cross section of Ireland’s age population, participate in live science experiments such as having their hearing tested to determine the age of their ears. They find out how age affects the amount of risk they attach to their decisions. What does the way they sit down or stand up tell us about their life expectancy? As well as that, Growing Up Live volunteers examine the concept of biological age versus chronological age to investigate whether a lifetime of living catches up with some more than others. And a pregnant mother joins us in studio for a live ultrasound where she will find out the sex of her baby in front of the nation. Each episode will also feature a special guest, recognisable to our audience from different walks of life. Episode one features Peter Stringer, one of Ireland’s beloved rugby players who, this year, announced his retirement from playing at the ripe old age of 40. We will discuss his career, health and rugby playing longevity as well as his famous stature and resistance to growth hormone therapy in his adolescence. And his short-lived career as a biochemist! Ireland is lucky to have world leading scientists who are passionate about communicating what they do to.

Throughout the series, the leading lights of science in Ireland – such as Prof. Luke O’Neill, Prof. Emma Teeling, Prof. Niall Moyna, Prof. Fionnuala McAuliffe and Prof. Aoife McLysaght – will feature and contribute their expertise to Growing Up Live.

Produced by Loosehorse, Growing Up Live will be a fascinating series for the whole family. Supported by Science Foundation Ireland, it promises to be a landmark part of Science Week 2018.

Airs 13, 14 and 15 November at 7pm on RTÉ One