Topics for explainer videos are infinite! There is just so much to explain about the world we live in. We’ve already talked about great sports topics for explainer videos. So now let’s consider a few fascinating subjects, a few serious issues and a few fun things that will be great SCIENCE topics for explainer videos.

7 Great Science Topics for Explainer Videos

1. Genome Editing

Genome editing is not only a complicated subject, but also a controversial one! Genome editing is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. It has the potential to create healthier generations, or even designer babies! Maybe it will one day be possible to also enhance people with genes from other organisms.

But, there is also a dark side…. Could genome editing be a potential weapon of mass destruction? (Imagine making “killer mosquitoes”, or plagues that wipe out staple crops, or bio-terrorists using it to create vaccine resistant strains of dangerous viruses…). So, why not make an explainer video so that the rest of us can also know the ins and outs of genome editing?

2. Smallpox Vaccine

Smallpox is the only disease that has been completely wiped out throughout the world! This acute contagious viral disease used to kill about one-third of those infected, and survivors had to live with terrible scars. However, by end 1979, smallpox had been effectively eradicated through vaccination, thanks to the efforts of Frank Fenner. But there is so much more to explain! Go back 200 years to the work of Edward Jenner who introduced the world’s first vaccine: he observed that milkmaids who had previously caught cowpox did not catch smallpox. He was able to show that inoculation with cowpox protected against smallpox! From there the smallpox vaccine was developed. Indeed, an excellent topic for an explainer video! 

3. Triple Point

How is it possible for a substance, like water, to boil and freeze at the same time?! Easy: suck the air out of a container and find a pressure/temperature combination that’s near the so-called triple point of the fluid. As the liquid boils, high energy molecules leave the liquid as gas, lowering the temperature of the liquid left behind and causing it to freeze. This process of boiling and freezing continues while the substance remains at this pressure and temperature. An explainer video can explain this phenomenon, when the temperature and pressure is just right for the three phases (gas, liquid, and solid) to coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium. 

4. Cloning

Cloning refers to the process of developing an embryo with the DNA from an adult animal. It involves a process more technically known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. But how does this really work? It goes like this: take the DNA from the cell of an adult animal (it may be best to extract the DNA from the skin cell of a cow). Now, take an egg cell from another cow and remove its nucleus. Insert the DNA from the skin cell into the egg cell. The egg cell will read and duplicate the DNA of the skin cell, to form an embryo. Zap the embryo with electricity so that it starts multiplying and becomes a blastocyst. Implant the blastocyst into a surrogate mother. And… you have just cloned a cow! The resulting newborn will be an identical genetic replica of the donor cow. Perhaps an explainer video is needed to clarify if it really is that simple! 

5. Extended Lifespan

Scientists claim that some form of life extension will be widely available by the middle of the 21st century. It is already possible to reverse aging in lab mice by changing how their DNA repairs itself. Also, scientists are able to grow kidneys and windpipes in laboratory settings, using stem cells! So, by replacing worn organs people can perhaps escape the more deteriorating effects of aging!

Life extension technology will continue to develop, as people want to live longer, healthier lives. But how long do scientists have to go before the natural limits of the human lifespan is overcome? It is all about the altering of mechanisms of DNA and about the replacement of damaged cells with new ones. It would be great to explain all the various possibilities in a short explainer video!

6. Artificial Slime

Slime is the new fascination amongst young and old. They are also equally intrigued by the various processes of making slime… (How satisfying it is to let the slime fall through your fingers!) Slime is a non-newtonian fluid, i.e. neither a liquid nor a solid. A non-newtonian fluid does not have its own shape, but changes shape according to the container it is in. Also, a non-newtonian fluid will ooze like a liquid, but can equally be picked up like a solid! These are typical characteristics of slime. It all has to do with polymers and cross linking of molecules… There is so much more to explain about this strange phenomenon – this is indeed a great explainer video topic!

7. Sickle-Cell Disease

Sickle-cell disease is all about an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein hemoglobin (found in red blood cells). This leads to the formation of rigid, sickle shaped red blood cells. Healthy red blood cells have a disc shape that moves easily through the blood vessels. The sickle shaped cells do not move as easily and may burst or get stuck at branching points in the blood vessels. As a result, various health problems manifest, such as anemia, swelling in the hands and feet, pain, bacterial infections, and stroke. How does it come about? And what is the link between Africa and sickle-cell disease? Sickle-cell disease seriously needs an explainer video to inform others what this condition is really about. Moreover, an explainer video may reveal the relationship between malaria and sickle-cell disease, and how people with sickle-cell disease seem to be protected against malaria…!