This Week in Evolution

Vincent Racaniello•microbe.tv

This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology of what makes us tick. Hosts Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello take you through the new evolution that has been revolutionized by the field of genomics and molecular biology.

Last refreshed: July 15th, 2025 at 4:46 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

TWiEVO 25: Pigeons show the way

Nels and Vincent discuss a genomic analysis of the passenger pigeon, which shows that species with large and stable populations may be at risk of extinction after a sudden environmental change. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Become a patron of TWiEVO Passenger pigeon genomic diversity (Science) Image credit Letters read on TWiEVO 25 Science Picks Nels - Video of nematophagous fungi Vincent - How should novelty be valued in science ? John - Evo-Devo (Despacito Biology Parody) Melanie - W...

Nov 22, 2017•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 25

TWiEVO 24: Good viruses visiting bad neighborhoods

Marco Vignuzzi joins Nels and Vincent to discuss recent work from his laboratory on redirecting RNA virus evolution in sequence space. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Marco Vignuzzi Become a patron of TWiEVO Vignuzzi Laboratory Redirecting evolution of RNA viruses in sequence space (Nat Micro) Is quasispecies concept relevant to RNA viruses? (J Virol) This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. Get...

Oct 26, 2017•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 24

TWiEVO 23: The Alus are going to be alright

Nels and Vincent reveal how the protein DHX9 suppresses RNA processing defects caused by invasion of the Alu retroelement into the human genome. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Become a patron of TWiEVO DHX9 suppresses Alu defects (Nature) Asifa Akhtar on The Latest Thinking This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. See what’s on the menu this week and get your first 3 meals free with your first purchas...

Sep 20, 2017•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 23

TWiEVO 22: E pluribus cerevisiae

Maitreya Dunham joins Nels and Vincent to explain how her laboratory uses experimental evolution to study yeast flocculation, the community-building cell aggregation trait. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Maitreya Dunham Become a patron of TWiEVO Dunham Laboratory Adaptive Routes to Cell Aggregation in Yeast (Genetics) Making the best of a sticky situation (SGD) Yeast Genetics and Genomic Course (Cold Spring Harbor) Genetic basis of biofilm formation (Beacon) 2017 CSH Plate Race (...

Aug 30, 2017•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 22

TWiEVO 21: A virus with a green thumb

Rich Condit joins Nels and Vincent to explain how a vaccinia virus protein customizes ribosomes to favor the translation of viral mRNAs with a stretch of A residues in the 5'-untranslated region. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Become a patron of TWiEVO Rich Condit with Harry Noller (scroll down) Trans-Kingdom mimicry ? (Nature) More on RACK1 (Nat Struct Mol Biol) Image credit Letters read on TWiEVO 21 This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient an...

Jul 13, 2017•1 hr 45 min

TWiEVO 20: In the company of cnidarians

Nels and Vincent explore the role of TSR proteins during colonization of cnidarians by dinoflagellates. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Become a patron of TWiEVO TSR domain proteins in cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis A. elegantissima image credit Letters read on TWiEVO 20 Science Picks Nels - CRISPR 5 ways Vincent - The Vital Question by Nick Lane Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv...

Jun 20, 2017•1 hr 43 min

TWiEVO 19: The beauty of the story

Jonathan Weiner, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Beak of the Finch , joins Nels and Vincent to talk about his career and his writing. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Jonathan Weiner Become a patron of TWiEVO Jonathan's Columbia University page Jonathan's author page Science Picks Nels - The Gap by Ira Glass Vincent - EPA removes climate science site Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv...

May 24, 2017•1 hr 24 min

TWiEVO 18: Raiders of the lost orco

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guests: Ni-Chen 'Sylvia' Chang, Waring 'Buck' Trible , and Sean K. McKenzie Buck and Sean join Vincent in New York, while Sylvia is with Nels in Salt Lake City to discuss the first mutant ant ever made: disruption of orco , a gene required for function of odorant receptors, show defects in social behavior and fitness. Become a patron of TWiEVO First ant mutants link odorant receptors and social behavior (bioRxiv) Kronauer Lab This episode is brought to you...

Apr 10, 2017•1 hr 33 min

TWiEVO 17: The curious cases of clam cancers

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Stephen Goff Nels joins Vincent in New York City to speak with Stephen Goff about transmissible clam cancers and the silencing of integrated retroviral genomes. Become a patron of TWiEVO A sixth modality of infectious disease (PLoS Path) Horizontal transmission of clam cancer (Cell) Transmissible bivalve cancers (Nature) Retrovirus transcriptional silencing (J Virol) Histones on retroviral DNA (Cell Host Micr) Image credit This episode is brought to...

Mar 13, 2017•1 hr 17 min

TWiEVO 16: Breaking in the making of genes

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Nels and Vincent reveal how introns - the parts of pre-mRNAs that are removed by splicing - were generated by DNA transposons in two different picoeukaryotes. Become a patron of TWiEVO Introns from DNA transposons (Nature) Reverse transcription and integration lecture Image: Elde Lab Mobile Studios on location in Santa Fe, NM Letters read on TWiEVO 16 This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery se...

Feb 25, 2017•1 hr 17 min

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