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This Week in Evolution

This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology behind what makes us tick.
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Now displaying: 2020
Dec 31, 2020

Nels and Vincent wrap up 2020 with a discussion of novel variants of SARS-CoV-2 that have emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa, how to interpret the rapidly emerging genome sequence data and what to look for in the coming weeks as these variants spread across the globe.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels Katalin Karikos’ career and mRNA vaccines
VincentReverse Engineering of mRNA vaccine

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Dec 7, 2020

Daniel joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his new book on army ants, the wickedest insects ever to roam the planet, and his research on them and clonal raider ants.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Daniel Kronauer

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Science Picks

DanielDesert Navigator by Rüdiger Wehner and Insects of Suriname by Maria Sibylla Merian
Nels NPR Scicommers
Vincent The Vintage Beauty Of Soviet Control Rooms

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Oct 31, 2020

Nels and Vincent discuss an opinion piece on 12 evolutionary insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping human nature, and prolonged SARS-CoV-2 reproduction in an immunosuppressed patient.

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Science Picks

Nels Scott Edwards bikes across US; support diversity in evolution
Vincent30 computers sculpture project

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Sep 25, 2020

On the fifth anniversary of TWiEVO, Nels and Vincent invite 12 evolutionary biologists to describe exciting future directions for the field and their laboratory in the next five years.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Lillian Fritz Laylin, Talia Karasov, Andrew Kern, Sarah Tishkoff, Dmitri Petrov, Nancy Chen, Amanda Larracuente, John McCutcheon, Ambika Kamath, Chip Aquadro, Rebekah Rogers, Yaniv Braindvain, and Harmit Malik

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Science Picks

Nels - Science Mill Virtual Tour and Benefit
Vincent - Das Coronavirus summaries

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

 

Aug 28, 2020

Nels and Vincent answer listener questions and discuss a newly discovered virus of amoeba with a nearly complete ORFan genome: none of the proteins encoded in the viral genome look like any other proteins.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - Blog by Ambika Kamath
Vincent - TWiVerse

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Aug 13, 2020

Simon and Heather join TWiEVO to discuss their analysis of the evolutionary history of ACE2 usage by coronaviruses in the Sarbecovirus genus.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Simon Anthony and Heather Wells

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Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Jun 24, 2020

Jessie, Allie and Tyler join Nels and Vincent to describe their work on deep mutational scanning of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Jesse Bloom, Allie Greaney, and Tyler Starr

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Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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May 20, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, including understanding recurrent mutations in the viral genome, and the potential for re-emergence of the virus from an animal reservoir.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - The Cell in Evolution
Vincent - Visual Science

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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May 6, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, with a report that the coronavirus proofreading enzyme stimulates RNA recombination, and debunking the conclusion that a change in the viral spike glycoprotein is associated with increased human to human transmission.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - In Memoriam: Gordon Lark
Vincent - John Oliver Discussion of Antibody Tests

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Apr 25, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, including function of the furin cleavage site, whether Vervet cells are an informative system, another bat isolate, and a nomenclature to assist genomic epidemiology.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - EvoEco seminars
Vincent - Coronavirus book for children

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Apr 4, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, focusing on what the genome sequences tell us about the virus.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - Science Mill Explorer Zone
Vincent - COVID-19 treatment and therapy tracker

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Feb 26, 2020

Nels and Vincent examine SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, examining what the spike glycoprotein sequence informs us about the origin of the virus.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - Alejandro Sanchez TED Talk
Vincent - WHO SARS-CoV-2 Sitrep

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Jan 22, 2020

Nels and Vincent dive deep into evolution and consider how new proteins emerged billions of years ago, when there were no other proteins to serve as starting material.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - Universal principled review
Vincent - Hostile Planet by National Geographic

Listener Pick

Courtney - Nightwish Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Shudder Before The Beautiful

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

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