Tracing Peranakan Ancestry with Prof. Roger Foo (NUS Medicine)

You've probably seen those vibrant Peranakan shophouses in Joo Chiat – but how did this unique mixed-heritage community come to be in Singapore? To discover more, we speak with Prof. Roger Foo, the first Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. Prof. Foo was one of the researchers behind the Singapore Peranakan Genome Project. We unravel some mind-blowing research about DNA, genetics, and the human heart. We also hear a bit about Prof. Foo's personal journey to becoming a doctor (hint: involves a hit medical TV drama).

Episode Highlights

• Whether the science stacks up to legends about the origins of Peranakans in Singapore
• The sheer volume of data each of us possess in our genome (enough to stretch for 9000 km and fill up several thousand Bibles if written o ...