This Week in Evolution

Nels and Vincent explain how template switching during DNA replication is a widespread source of adaptive gene amplification.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Template switching and gene amplification (eLife)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – Jeremy Berg on Bluesky – jeremymberg.bsky.social Vincent – Dickson Despommier, 84

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Nels and Vincent reveal that worker ants amputate their colleagues injured leg to prevent infections.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Wound-dependent leg amputation in ants (Curr Biol)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – The Science Bridge Vincent – US withdraws from WHO

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Nels and Vincent discuss the molecular and genetic origins of sex-linked orange coat color in cats.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Orange coat color in cats (bioRxiv)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – AI takes up science podcasting Vincent – Humans evolved for distance running – but ancestor 'Lucy' didn't go far or fast

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Nels and Vincent review the identification of a novel virus associated with the pathogen Plasmodium knowlsei and which is part part of a diverse and unclassified viral taxon.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Virus associated with P. knowlsei (bioRxiv)
• Timestamps by Jolene

Nels – The peace of wild things, poem by Wendell Berry Vincent – All Life on Earth Today Descended From a Single Cell. Meet LUCA

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Nels and Vincent discuss the origins of eukaryotes, with contributions from at least 3 bacteria (alphaproteobacteria) and a large contribution from DNA viruses with large genomes.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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• Complex symbiotic interactions during eukaryogenesis (bioRxiv)
• Timestamps by Jolene

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

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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)
• Timestamps by Jolene

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)
• Timestamps by Jolene

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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