Nels and Vincent discuss the use of genome sequence data for over 4,000 domestic, semi-feral, and wild canids to understand the genetic drivers of canine behavior. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Genetic drivers of canine diversification (Cell) Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Ghosts of Science Past Still Haunt Us by C. Brandon Ogbunu Vincent – The Biggest...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 85
Nels and Vincent review the use of ancient DNA to identify loci that may have been under selection during the Black Death by studying populations before, during, and after the pandemic. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolution of immune genes associated with Black Death (Nature) ERAP2 and respiratory disease (medRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Inte...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 84
Florian Maderspacher from Current Biology joins Nels and Vincent to discuss a special issue of the journal on birds. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Florian Maderspacher Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Current Biology Birds Special Issue Scott Edwards bikes across the US (Audubon) Support Diversity Issues in Evolution (Go Fund Me) Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Florian – Favorite birds...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 83
Nels and Vincent consider evidence that a single amino acid change in the TKTL1 gene might have led to greater neurogenesis in the frontal cortex of modern humans compared with Neanderthals. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Human TKTL1 implies greater neurogenesis (Science) Everyone’s a little bit Neanderthal ( TWiEVO 8 ) Tragic gene flow from Neanderthals ( TWiV 676 ) Time st...
Sep 25, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 82
Nels and Vincent discuss how duplication of a gene encoding a transcription factor led to evolution of a novel cell type in the slime mold Dictyostelium . Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Gene duplication leads to novel cell type (Current Biol) Evolution of multicellularity ( TWiEVO 11 ) Letters read on TWiEVO 81 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Dall-E arti...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 81
Louise Moncla joins Nels and Vincent to review her use of genomics to understand emergence, evolution, and transmission of respiratory viruses including influenza virus H5N1, mumps virus, and SARS-CoV-2. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Louise Moncla Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Within-host diversity of influenza virus H5N1 (PLoS Path) Mumps virus outbreak in Washington (eLive) SARS-CoV-2 tight tra...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 80
Nels and Vincent discuss an analysis of the drivers of evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during chronic infections, indicating that a tradeoff exists between antibody evasion and fitness. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Click arrow to play Download TWiEVO 79 (103 MB .mp3, 86 min) Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode SARS-CoV-2 evolution during chronic infection (Nat Med) Letters read on TWiEVO 79 Time stamps by Jolene. Th...
Jul 02, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 79
Nels and Vincent provide an update on cases of monkeypox, and summarize a biochemical view of three changes in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that may balance positive and negative selection. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode ECDC monkeypox risk assessment ( pdf ) Monkeypox virus genomes (Nextstrain) Discussion of monkeypox virus genome sequencing (virological.org) Balancing posi...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 78
Alex joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his work which demonstrates that somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan in mammals. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Alex Cagan Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Somatic mutation and age (Nature) Zombie gene in elephants ( TWiEVO 26 ) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Alex – Paper.app Nels – Fifty years since Lewontin’s apportionment of human diversi...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 77
Nels and Vincent describe how a single amino acid change can allow E. coli to replace the essential gut symbiont of the stinkbug Plautia stali. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Click arrow to play Download TWiEVO 75 (103 MB .mp3, 86 min) Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Making E. coli an insect mutualist (bioRxiv) Letters read on TWiEVo 76 Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Inequality in scie...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 76
Nels and Vincent review isolation of SARS-CoV-2-like viruses from bats in Laos that can replicate in human cells. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode SARS-CoV-2 like viruses in bats in Laos (Nature) Vampire vax ( TWiV 809 ) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Erich Jarvis on scientists and public engagement Vincent – Polio type 1 in Africa Music on TWiEVO is perfo...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 75
Joe Graves joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his career in evolutionary biology and his recent book that answers questions about race and racism. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Joe Graves Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode On Racism, Not Race (Amazon) African Americans in evolutionary science (Behav Ecol Sociobiol) Biological variation and the normal (Am J Hum Biol) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Scien...
Feb 03, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 74
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Two-step fitness selection for SARS-CoV-2 variants (Cell Rep) Host origins of SARS-CoV-2 genome insertions (Virological) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Plant virus ...
Dec 28, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 73
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Ancient coronavirus epidemic in East Asia (Curr Biol) Gene-culture coevolution and human evolutionary tran...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 72
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate (Genome Biology Evolution) Delta spike change enhances fitness (bioRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! S...
Sep 27, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 71
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode On Life’s Edge by Carl Zimmer Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Remembrance of Dick Lewontin Carl – From telomere to telomere: the transcriptional and epigenetic state of human repeat elements Music on TWiEVO is performed...
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 70
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Identification of novel bat coronaviruses (Cell) Dating first cases of COVID-19 (PLoS Path) Recovery of...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 69
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolutionary portrait of SARS-CoV-2 (Mol Biol Evolution) Letters read on TWiEVO 68 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels...
May 29, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 68
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Recombination in B.1.1.7 lineage (Virological) CoVariants Letters read on TWiEVO 67 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Mars rover helicopter flight! Vincent – TWiN 17: Worms see the light with Michael Nitabach ...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 67
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Tony Schountz on TWiV 668 SARS-CoV-2 variants infect mice (bioRxiv) CoVariants Letters read on TWiEVO 66 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nel...
Mar 25, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 66
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Selective sweep drove SARS-CoV-2 adaptation (bioRxiv) Novel coronavirus haplotypes Letters read on TWiEVO 65 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Ra...
Feb 25, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 65
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (Nature) mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies to variants (bioRxiv) Scott Hensley thread (Twitter) Analysis of B.1.17 lineage ...
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 64
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Preliminary genomic characterization of UK variant (virological) Clinical...
Dec 31, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 63
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode This Week in Ants ( TWiEVO 13 ) Raiders of the Lost Orco ( TWiEVO 18 ) Army Ants by Daniel Kronauer Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Daniel – Desert Navig...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 62
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. Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Microbe.TV on instagram Pandemic exposes human nature (PNAS) Carl Bergstrom calls BS (Twitter) Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 reproduction in patient (J Inf Dis) Letters read on TWiEVO 61 Time stamps by Jolen...
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 61
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , ...
Sep 25, 2020•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 60
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Yaravirus (PNAS) Letters read on TWiEVO 59 Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Science Picks Nels - Blog by Ambika Kamath Vincent - TWiVerse Music on TW...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 59
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolutionary history of sarbecovirus ACE2 binding (bioRxiv) Bombali virus in bats (Nat Micro) Herpesviruses in Puerto Rican bats (bioRxiv) Adenovirus and herpesvirus in gre...
Aug 13, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 58
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Bloom Laboratory Deep mutational scanning of SARS-CoV-2 RBD (bioRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene . Thanks! Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send you...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 57
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 Subscribe (free): iTunes , Google Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of TWiEVO SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity (Inf, Genet, Evol) Re-emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (bioRxiv) Tackling SARS-CoV-2 rumors (virological.org) Letters read on TWiEVO 56 Image credit T...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 56
