This Week in Evolution
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This Week in Evolution
This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology of what makes us tick. Hosts Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello take you through the new evolution that has been revolutionized by the field of genomics and molecular biology.
Neueste Episoden
101 Episoden
TWiEVO 118: Mother of an unrelated brother
Nels and Vincent discuss research which shows a shift from the rule that living organisms produce same-species offspring: an ant that produces individ...
TWiEVO 117: Genes that don't leave
Nels and Vincent discuss research on hidden evolutionary constraints that dictate the retention of coronavirus accessory gene, which was flagged by NI...
TWiEVO 116: An ant and two fungi walk into a bar and meet a naked mole rat
Nels and Vincent review research on how neuropeptides influence the behavior of leafcutter ants, and regulate the different caste behaviors such as de...
TWiEVO 115: Even the archaea are going viral
Nels and Vincent discuss an ultra reduced archaeal genome, the closest cellular entity to date that approaches a viral strategy of existence.
Ho...
TWiEVO 114: The best experiments ever done
Nels and Vincent review the properties of Mendel’s pea genes through the lens of modern genetic analysis.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniell...
TWiEVO 113: A wolf in wolf's clothing
Nels and Vincent explain the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
Become a patron of T...
TWiEVO 112: Sex-Z cephalopods
Nels and Vincent explain the ancient evolutionary origin of sex in cephalopods.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
Become a patron of...
TWiEVO 111: Copy that, genome
Nels and Vincent explain how template switching during DNA replication is a widespread source of adaptive gene amplification.
Hosts: Nels Elde a...
TWiEVO 110: Ants go from carpenters to surgeons
Nels and Vincent reveal that worker ants amputate their colleagues injured leg to prevent infections.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
TWiEVO 109: On the origins of orange
Nels and Vincent discuss the molecular and genetic origins of sex-linked orange coat color in cats.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
TWiEVO 108: A virus in every parasite
Nels and Vincent review the identification of a novel virus associated with the pathogen Plasmodium knowlsei and which is part part of a diverse and u...
TWiEVO 107: One small step for cells, one giant step for cell kind
Nels and Vincent discuss the origins of eukaryotes, with contributions from at least 3 bacteria (alphaproteobacteria) and a large contribution from DN...
TWiEVO 106: What's old immunity is new again
Nels and Vincent explain how homology searches of anti-phage systems in eukaryotic genomes can be used to discover proteins of the human immune system...
TWiEVO 105: Not every rose has its thorn
Nels and Vincent look at how plant prickles, sharp epidermal projections that provide defense from predators and other advantages, arose by convergent...
TWiEVO 104: Wooly mammoth prosciutto
Nels and Vincent discuss the genome sequence of an ancient wooly mammoth, which shows that the three-dimensional architecture of the DNA can persist a...
TWiEVO 103: Change the world by duplicating yourself
Nels and Vincent explore a direct experimental test of Ohno’s Hypothesis, which states that gene duplication can help genes tolerate new mutations and...
TWiEVO 102: Kelp gets some viral help
Nels and Vincent explain how deep genomics of macroalgae illuminate multiple paths to aquatic, photosynthetic multicellularity.
Hosts: Nels Elde...
TWiEVO 101: 99 problems but a tail ain't one
Nels and Vincent review the genetic basis for tail-loss evolution in humans and apes.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
Become a pat...
TWiEVO 99: A shocking means to move genes
Nels and Vincent reveal how electric organ discharge from the electric eel facilitates the introduction of DNA into teleost larvae.
Hosts: Nels...
TWiEVO 100: Spaces that celebrate science
Rich Condit joins Nels and Vincent at the Science Mill in Johnson City, Texas, where Director of STEM Education Jeehyun Park talks about the goals of...
TWiEVO 98: The worms strike back!
Nels and Vincent discuss how behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello...
TWiEVO 97: Germs trapping worms
Nels and Vincent review a study of the key processes required for the different stages of fungal carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus.
Hosts:...
TWiEVO 96: Going bananas over the origins of corn
Nels and Vincent discuss the origins of two modern day agriculturally important plants: a role for two different wild teosintes in making modern maize...
TWiEVO 95: Watering the viruses until they bloom
Nels and Vincent discuss how the rewetting of seasonally dried soils, a critical event in Mediterranean grasslands that reactivates dormant soil micro...
TWiEVO 94: A bacteria, a phage, and a selfish element walk into a cryptomonad
Nels and Vincent take apart an amazing symbiosis consisting of two bacteria, one bacteriophage, and seven different genomes all within a single-celled...
TWiEVO 93: Faster than a speeding bacteria
Nels and Vincent review a collision of synthetic biology and experimental evolution, using a minimal synthetic bacterial cell with only 473 genes, the...
TWiEVO 92: There's algae in the jar
Nels and Vincent explain a study of how interspecies competition between two algae influences evolution of metabolism and size.
Hosts: Nels Elde...
TWiEVO 91: Meet your very distant cousins
Nels and Vincent discuss new findings using phylogenetic approaches about how complex eukaryotic cells emerged from prokaryotic ancestors, which firml...
TWiEVO 90: The mystery of the mouse mummies
Nels and Vincent provide insights into the mystery of mouse mummies on the summits of >6000 m Andean volcanoes, including whether they were living the...
TWiEVO 89: On the outer rim of tumor evolution
Nels and Vincent discuss the observation that cells on a boundary of a solid tumor have higher growth rates compared to those in the center and how to...
TWiEVO 88: Dog days of evolution in the shadows of Chernobyl
Nels and Vincent review a study of the dogs of Chernobyl which reveals that genetically distinct populations with different amounts of western breed c...
TWiEVO 87: Nathan Clark's revolutionary hair care advice
Nathan joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his approach to understanding how species adopt novel traits to overcome challenges, and its application to i...
TWiEVO 86: Pulling out the stops in genetic code evolution
Nels and Vincent discuss how evolution of changes in stop codon assignment might occur, and a novel mechanism for altering the meaning of translation...
TWiEVO 85: Teaching old dogs new genetic tricks
Nels and Vincent discuss the use of genome sequence data for over 4,000 domestic, semi-feral, and wild canids to understand the genetic drivers of can...
TWiEVO 84: Decoding our defenses to the Black Death
Nels and Vincent review the use of ancient DNA to identify loci that may have been under selection during the Black Death by studying populations befo...
TWiEVO 83: Evolution spreads its wings (and then loses them)
Florian Maderspacher from Current Biology joins Nels and Vincent to discuss a special issue of the journal on birds.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincen...
TWiEVO 82: A genetic hack for the human brain
Nels and Vincent consider evidence that a single amino acid change in the TKTL1 gene might have led to greater neurogenesis in the frontal cortex of m...
TWiEVO 81: Evolution's new and improved slime molds
Nels and Vincent discuss how duplication of a gene encoding a transcription factor led to evolution of a novel cell type in the slime mold Dictyosteli...
TWiEVO 80: Viruses of a feather bottleneck together
Louise Moncla joins Nels and Vincent to review her use of genomics to understand emergence, evolution, and transmission of respiratory viruses includi...
TWiEVO 79: When the immune system is away, SARS-CoV-2 will play
Nels and Vincent discuss an analysis of the drivers of evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during chronic infections, indicating that a tradeoff exists between an...