This Week in Evolution

Nels and Vincent explain how homology searches of anti-phage systems in eukaryotic genomes can be used to discover proteins of the human immune system.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Human antiviral effectors from antiphage systems (Cell Host Micro)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – Pathoplexus.org Vincent – Can science cure its addiction to plastic?

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Nels and Vincent look at how plant prickles, sharp epidermal projections that provide defense from predators and other advantages, arose by convergent evolution, the emergence of analogous traits in distantly related species.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Convergent evolution of plant prickles (Science)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – Trees as a metaphor to understand relationships in biology Vincent – Project 2025 vs. The Public’s Health

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Nels and Vincent discuss the genome sequence of an ancient wooly mammoth, which shows that the three-dimensional architecture of the DNA can persist after 50,000 years.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Three dimensional architecture of 50,000 year old wooly mammoth genome (Cell)
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Nels – Mysterious SARS-CoV-2 variants showing up in sewer samples Vincent – ‘Cocaine sharks’ found in waters off Brazil

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Nels and Vincent explore a direct experimental test of Ohno’s Hypothesis, which states that gene duplication can help genes tolerate new mutations and thus facilitates the evolution of new phenotypes.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Direct test of Ohno’s Hypothesis (eLive)
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Nels – Experimental Evolution and the Nature of Biodiversity Vincent – Is science’s dominant funding model broken?

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Nels and Vincent explain how deep genomics of macroalgae illuminate multiple paths to aquatic, photosynthetic multicellularity.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Paths to aquatic, photosynthetic multicellularity (Mol Plant)
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Nels – 12-sided Roman relic baffles archaeologists, spawns countless theories Vincent – TWiEVO 11: Microbial accomplices in multicellularity and the follow up Synergistic Cues from Diverse Bacteria Enhance Multicellular Development in a Choanoflagellate

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Nels and Vincent review the genetic basis for tail-loss evolution in humans and apes.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Genetic basis of tail loss evolution in apes (Nature)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – Will Brie and Camembert Cheeses Go Extinct? Vincent – A True Human Tail in a Neonate: Case report and literature review

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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

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• Electric eel discharge moves DNA into cells (Peer J)
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Nels – “The Jump” quilt by Cristina Arcenegui Bono Vincent – T4 bacteriophage art object and Gwenbeads Etsy shop

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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

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• The Science Mill
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Nels – Science Mill: More Than a Museum and Elde Lab Video Rich – The Moon May Get Its Own Time Zone (Claire Fahy, NYT 3/7/2023) Vincent – SXSW Session “From Adversary to Ally: Reimagining Viruses as Medicines“

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Nels and Vincent discuss how behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Infection risk in clonal ant colonies (Nat Comm)
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Nels – Fungi (lichens) in Space Vincent – Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period

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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

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Become a patron of TWiEVO

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• Fungal carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus (Plos Biol)
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Nels – Openly available illustrations as tools to describe eukaryotic microbial diversity Vincent – Dana-Farber retractions: meet the blogger who spotted problems in dozens of cancer papers

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