Big Biology

What can modern hunter-gatherer societies teach us about human energy budgets? What misconceptions do we have about weight loss and weight management? Are there limits to human endurance?

On this episode, we talk with Herman Pontzer (@HermanPontzer) of Duke University. We discuss his new book Burn, in which he examines -- and in some cases overturns -- received wisdom about human energy budgets and human metabolism. Much of the book is framed around Herman’s amazing long-term studies with the Hadza, a group of modern-day hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. That work reveals insights into human energy expenditure, helping reframe our Western dogmas about diet. He argues that because our metabolism evolved to cope with starvation, weight management is likely to be much more successful if we limit what we put into our bodies rather than how many calories we burn during exercise.  His evolutionary perspective also alters how we understand and treat metabolic disease, and the energetic limits to endurance among elite athletes. Those fitbits we love might not be as helpful as we’d like!

How did vocal learning evolve? What is special about human language? What brain structures are associated with speech and the many components of spoken language?



On this episode, we talk with Erich Jarvis (@erichjarvis), a professor at Rockefeller University, about the neurobiology of vocal communication. Erich’s ideas draw on the amazing breadth of auditory and vocal capacities among mammals and birds - from learning simple sounds to imitating sounds to producing complex, flexible vocalizations. We also discuss the unique “circuit within a circuit” neural networks of parrots that allow them to create such a rich repertoire of sounds. At the end, we talk about human speech and about what sign language, singing, and our “inner voice” tells us about its evolution.

What is coevolution? How has coevolution between insects and plants shaped human history and culture?

In this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Rob Raguso, a professor at Cornell University, who studies insect-plant interactions. Rob discusses his work on diffuse coevolution between night blooming flowers and their long-tongued hawk moth pollinators, and how his and others’ ideas leading to geographic mosaic theory has helped us understand the evolution of novel traits. Rob says that plant-pollinator coevolution has had a huge and varied impact on human life and culture, well beyond its obvious effects on our agriculture. Coevolution between plants and their pollinators shaped our trade, our religious practices, and even the contents of our liquor cabinets.

Photo: Robert Raguso

Why are bee populations declining? How can we reliably monitor insect populations when many are so cryptic? And what steps can we take to ensure that populations remain viable?

In this episode, we talk with Dave Goulson (@DaveGoulson), a professor of biology at the University of Sussex. Dave studies the ecology and conservation of insects, particularly bumblebees, and he is the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Bumblebees and wild bees provide pollination services for over 50% of the food we consume—so ensuring their long-term viability is critical to our food security. Dave says that bees and other insects face many challenges, especially from neonicotinoid insecticides and from protozoan diseases and ectoparasites. We talk with Dave about the effects of anthropogenic stressors and the rapid action needed from individuals, farmers, policymakers, and governments to help maintain healthy bee populations.

Photo: Pieter Haringsma

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On this episode of Big Biology we talk to Christine Cooper (@CECooperEcophys), a vertebrate ecophysiologist and professor at Curtin University, Australia. Christine’s research focuses on the thermal, metabolic, and water physiology of Australian mammals and birds. Her recent research, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology (a sponsor of this episode), details how one small and common bird, the zebra finch, responds to prolonged and intense Australian heat waves. We also discussed the evolution of vertebrate endothermy and how various other animals have evolved to cope with changes in temperature.

This episode is sponsored by Journal of Experimental Biology. The journal is published by the Company of Biologists, a not-for-profit that has been supporting and inspiring the biological community since 1925. JEB is at the forefront of comparative physiology and biomechanics.

Photo: Christine Cooper

What is a germ cell and why do animals separate germ and soma (body) cells at all? What molecules determine whether cells become germ or soma, and are some such mechanisms products of horizontal gene transfer?

On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Cassandra Extavour, an evolutionary developmental biologist at Harvard who studies the how's and why's of germ cell differentiation in insects. Recently, Cassandra's lab has been working on oskar, a novel and highly conserved gene that is indispensable for giving insect cells the ability to become sperm or eggs. She and others have found that Oskar effectively acts like a magnet in developing insect cells, keeping together molecules critical to transformation of undifferentiated cells into functional germ cells. Bizarrely, this really important gene is thought to have evolved partly through horizontal gene transfer between insects and particular bacteria. Since then, oskar has also come to have many other functions, including for nerve cell development, even though much of its history was in species without nervous systems. Cassandra thinks that genes like these with complex histories and pleiotropic effects might be very common in living systems, much more than longstanding one gene-one phenotype thinking would lead us to expect.

Photo: Hannah Davis

How has the amount of artificial light changed over the last 150 years? In what ways does artificial light affect human health and wildlife? And how can new lighting technologies ameliorate the effects of light pollution?

On this episode of Big Biology we talk to Kevin Gaston (@KevinJGaston), a professor of Biodiversity & Conservation at the University of Exeter. Kevin is an expert on the ecological impacts of artificial light and in particular “sky glow”--the combined glow of all lights coming from cities and towns. In our chat, we discussed how light production has grown over the past several decades and the growing impacts that it's having on our planet. Further, we discuss some of the psychology behind the human desire for bright spaces and what we as individuals can do to reduce the impacts of light pollution on ourselves and the organisms around us.

This episode is sponsored by the Zoological Lighting Institute. Recognizing that natural light is a central aspect of animal health and ecological function, The Zoological Lighting Institute promotes scientific research to improve understanding of what artificial changes in light mean for animals and the human communities that depend on them. Through education on light pollution, ZLI hopes that proper and sustainable approaches to care and development of light sources can be taken by communities around the globe.

How can local and state governments repair the damage done by COVID-19? Is there a vaccine on its way to a pharmacy near you? And what should you expect about lockdowns, facemasks, and new COVID-19 therapies in the coming months?

On this episode of Big Biology, a panel of experts discusses the virus’s trajectory and impact, and our options going forward. This conversation was recorded live at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, in partnership with the University of South Florida College of Public Health and Morsani College of Medicine and the City of Tampa.

The panel consisted of Jane Castor, the mayor of Tampa, Kami Kim, a physician and professor who specializes in infectious diseases, Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist focused on the population ecology of disease transmission, and Michael Teng, an immunologist with expertise in vaccine development. We moderate as the experts look ahead, and discuss what we can expect long-term.

Photo: Allison Long

What is the role of chance in explaining variation in biology? How has it shaped the history of life on Earth? And how do scientists incorporate chance into their performing experiments?

In this episode of BigBiology, we talk to Sean Caroll, an award-winning scientist, author, educator and, film-producer about his latest book, A Series of Fortunate Events, in which he writes about how chance has shaped life on Earth. In Sean’s view, chance is the creative process and contingency is the aftermath of chance. Consider the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs and paved the way for the rise of mammals and ultimately humans. It could have missed our planet altogether. Or it could have hit 30 minutes earlier, or later, landing in the ocean and having effects that were much less severe.

Sean argues that chance is not limited to biology but plays a big role society including the entertainment industry. The common theme between thinkers and comedians is that they tell the truth, but in a very different way. How do comedians get away with bold statements while scientists run into a controversy for the same ideas? Do scientists have something to learn from comedians?