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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: Page 2
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

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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

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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

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Science Picks

NelsSlowed canonical progress in large fields of science
Vincent Virology Live

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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

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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

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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

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Science Picks

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

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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

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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

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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

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Science Picks

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

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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

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Science Picks

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

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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

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Science Picks

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

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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

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Science Picks

NelsRadio Garden
VincentOur World in Data – Coronavirus

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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

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Science Picks

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Dec 24, 2019

Nels and Vincent discuss signatures of sex chromosome evolution revealed by assembly of a young vertebrate Y chromosome from 3-spined stickleback fish.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks

Nels - Genome from a 5,700-Year-Old Wad of Chewed Gum
Vincent - NJ Sea-Level Rise Reports

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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Nov 29, 2019

Rich joins Nels and Vincent for a debriefing on the 4th Ringberg Symposium on Giant Virus Biology in Tegernsee, Germany.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Rich Condit

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Science Picks

Rich - Flightradar24
Nels - Deutsches Museum Munich
Vincent - Diversify Microbiology

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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