This Week in Evolution

Nels and Vincent review the genetic basis for tail-loss evolution in humans and apes. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server Genetic basis of  tail loss evolution  in apes (Nature) Timestamps by  Jolene Science Picks Nels  –   Will Brie and C...

Nels and Vincent reveal how electric organ discharge from the electric eel facilitates the introduction of DNA into teleost larvae. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server Electric eel discharge  moves DNA into cells (Peer J) Timestamps by  Jo...

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 the childrens' museum. Hosts:  Nels Elde ,  Vincent Racaniello , and  Rich Condit Guest:  Jeehyun Park Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  MicrobeTV Discord...

Nels and Vincent discuss how behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server Infection risk in  clonal ant colonies  (Nat Comm) Timestamps by  Jolene Science Picks Nels  –  Fu...

Nels and Vincent review a study of the key processes required for the different stages of fungal carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server Fungal carnivory by a  nematode-trapping fungus  (Plos Biol) Time...

Nels and Vincent discuss the origins of two modern day agriculturally important plants: a role for two different wild teosintes in making modern maize, and the origin and evolution of the triploid cultivated banana genome. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the  Microb...

Nels and Vincent discuss how the rewetting of seasonally dried soils, a critical event in Mediterranean grasslands that reactivates dormant soil microorganisms, leading to pulses of carbon and nitrogen mineralization, and is accompanied by a bloom of viral diversity, followed by extensive viral community turnover. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Goog...

Nels and Vincent take apart an amazing symbiosis consisting of two bacteria, one bacteriophage, and seven different genomes all within a single-celled alga. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server •A single crowded  cryptomonad cell  (Curr Bio...

Nels and Vincent review a collision of synthetic biology and experimental evolution, using a minimal synthetic bacterial cell with only 473 genes, the smallest genome of any known organism that can be grown in lab culture. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the  Micro...

Nels and Vincent explain a study of how interspecies competition between two algae influences evolution of metabolism and size. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the  MicrobeTV Discord server •  Metabolic evolution  during competition (Curr Biol) Science Picks Nels  ...

Nels and Vincent discuss new findings using phylogenetic approaches about how complex eukaryotic cells emerged from prokaryotic ancestors, which firmly place eukaryotes as a clade nested within the Asgard archaea. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello S Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the  MicrobeTV Di...

Nels and Vincent provide insights into the mystery of mouse mummies on the summits of >6000 m Andean volcanoes, including whether they were living there and if so why? Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the MicrobeTV Discord server •Mystery of mouse mummies (bioRxiv) S...

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 model this difference using genome sequencing data. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the MicrobeTV Discord server •E...

Nels and Vincent review a study of the dogs of Chernobyl which reveals that genetically distinct populations with different amounts of western breed contributions to their genomes, the first step in assessing the effects of exposure to long-term ionizing radiation. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWi...

Nathan joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his approach to understanding how species adopt novel traits to overcome challenges, and its application to identifying coding and noncoding sequence changes that underlie mammalian hairlessness. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Guest:  Nathan Clark Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Link...

Nels and Vincent discuss how evolution of changes in stop codon assignment might occur, and a novel mechanism for altering the meaning of translation stop codons discovered in a trypanosomatid with the apropos name, Blastocrithidia nonstop . Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episo...

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 canine behavior. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Genetic drivers of  canine diversification  (Cell) Time stamps by  Jolene...

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 before, during, and after the pandemic. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolution of immune genes associated with Black Death...

Florian Maderspacher from Current Biology joins Nels and Vincent to discuss a special issue of the journal on birds. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Guest: Florian Maderspacher Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Current Biology Birds Special Issue Scott Edwards bikes across the US (Audubon) Support Divers...

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 modern humans compared with Neanderthals. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Human TKTL1 implies greater neurogenesis (Scienc...

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 Dictyostelium . Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Gene duplication leads to novel cell type (Current Biol) Evolution of multicellulari...

Louise Moncla joins Nels and Vincent to review her use of genomics to understand emergence, evolution, and transmission of respiratory viruses including influenza virus H5N1, mumps virus, and SARS-CoV-2. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Guest: Louise Moncla Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Within-host di...

Nels and Vincent discuss an analysis of the drivers of evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during chronic infections, indicating that a tradeoff exists between antibody evasion and fitness. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Click arrow to play Download  TWiEVO 79   (103 MB .mp3, 86 min) Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episo...

Nels and Vincent provide an update on cases of monkeypox, and summarize a biochemical view of three changes in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that may balance positive and negative selection. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode ECDC monkeypox risk assessment ( pdf ) Monkeypox...

Alex joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his work which demonstrates that somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan in mammals. Hosts:  Nels Elde  and  Vincent Racaniello Guest: Alex Cagan Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts ,  RSS ,  email Become a patron  of TWiEVO Links for this episode Somatic mutation and age (Nature) Zombie gene in elephants ( TWiEVO 26 ) Time stamps by Jolene...