Info

This Week in Evolution

This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology behind what makes us tick.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
This Week in Evolution
2024
February


2023
December
November
September
August
July
May
April
March
February


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
May
April
March
February


2021
December
October
September
August
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
October
September
August
June
May
April
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
April
March
February
January


2015
December


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: 2021
Dec 28, 2021

Nels and Vincent review three aspects of SARS-CoV-2: phylogenetics of Omicron, a two-step fitness selection for variants, and putative RNA insertions from host genomes.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsPlant virus satellite accelerates wing formation in insect
Vincent A plant virus that switched to vertebrates

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Oct 26, 2021

Nels and Vincent discuss evolutionary evidence for an epidemic of coronavirus infection over 20,000 years ago in East Asia, and reconstruction of the membrane differences between bacteria and Archaea reveals unexpected differences in permeability.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsSlowed canonical progress in large fields of science
Vincent Virology Live

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Sep 27, 2021

Nels and Vincent explain a method to calculate the mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2, and the role of a single amino acid change in spike in enhancing fitness of the delta variant and enabling it to out-compete the alpha variant.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsLeading Edge Symposium
VincentEpidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2

Listener Pick

ThomasThe gene’s-eye view of evolution by J. Arvid Ågren

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Aug 3, 2021

Carl Zimmer joins Nels to talk about science writing, science communication, viruses, and his new book, On Life’s Edge.

Host: Nels Elde

Guest: Carl Zimmer

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

Nels Remembrance of Dick Lewontin
CarlFrom telomere to telomere: the transcriptional and epigenetic state of human repeat elements

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Jun 30, 2021

Nels and Vincent discuss the identification of novel bat coronaviruses that shed light on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, dating the first cases of COVID-19 to mid-November 2019, and recovery of deleted genome sequences from early in the Wuhan outbreak.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

Nels The Last—And Only—Foreign Scientist in the Wuhan Lab Speaks Out
Vincent Human Behavior During the Pandemic Is More Important Than Any Covid Variant

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

May 29, 2021

Nels and Vincent explain a new method for calculating the most recent common ancestor of SARS-CoV-2, which concludes that the ancestral virus was circulating in October/November 2019, before its first detection in China.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

Nels Ed Yong pandemic trauma and We’re Not Ready for the Next Pandemic
VincentFurin cleavage site is not a smoking gun

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Apr 22, 2021

Nels and Vincent review evidence for recombinant SARS-CoV-2 genomes arising in the B.1.1.7 lineage within the United Kingdom.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

Nels Mars rover helicopter flight!
VincentTWiN 17: Worms see the light with Michael Nitabach

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Mar 25, 2021

Nels and Vincent review a preprint demonstrating that changes in the genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 variants B1.351 and P.1 allow the viruses to reproduce in mouse cells in culture and in laboratory mice.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsBillion years of plate tectonics
VincentSapiens a Graphic History by Yuval Noah Harari

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Feb 25, 2021

Nels and Vincent review evidence that a single amino acid change in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has driven adaptation to humans, followed by an update on the status of variants of concern.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsRadio Garden
VincentOur World in Data – Coronavirus

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

Jan 22, 2021

Nels and Vincent consider evolution of antibody immunity to SARS-CoV-2, and update the situation on novel virus variants of concern with potentially altered fitness and reactivity with antibodies.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiEVO

Links for this episode

Science Picks

NelsBiden Administration PCAST and The Hill We Climb
Vincent – Four inaugural quotations – Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Biden

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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

1