This Week in Evolution

Mar 26 2025 100 ep. 87 mins 10.3k
This Week in Evolution Podcast artwork

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.

  Science
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


TWiEVO 112: Sex-Z cephalopods

Mar 26 2025 87 mins  
Nels and Vincent explain the ancient evolutionary origin of sex in cephalopods. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Evolution of sex in cephalopods (Current Biol) Timestamps by Jolene Science Picks Nels – Speaking into a microphone? Your audio qua

TWiEVO 111: Copy that, genome

Feb 26 2025 86 mins  
Nels and Vincent explain how template switching during DNA replication is a widespread source of adaptive gene amplification. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Template switching and gene amplification (eLife) Timestamps by Jolene Science Picks Ne

TWiEVO 110: Ants go from carpenters to surgeons

Jan 22 2025 83 mins  
Nels and Vincent reveal that worker ants amputate their colleagues injured leg to prevent infections. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Wound-dependent leg amputation in ants (Curr Biol) Timestamps by Jolene Science Picks Nels – The Science Brid

TWiEVO 109: On the origins of orange

Dec 31 2024 76 mins  
Nels and Vincent discuss the molecular and genetic origins of sex-linked orange coat color in cats. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Orange coat color in cats (bioRxiv) Timestamps by Jolene Science Picks Nels – AI takes up science podcasting Vi

TWiEVO 108: A virus in every parasite

Nov 20 2024 78 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Virus associated with P. knowlsei (bioRx

TWiEVO 107: One small step for cells, one giant step for cell kind

Oct 30 2024 92 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Complex symbiotic interactions duri

TWiEVO 106: What's old immunity is new again

Sep 30 2024 88 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Human antiviral effectors from antiphage systems (Cell Host Mi

TWiEVO 105: Not every rose has its thorn

Sep 30 2024 91 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join t

TWiEVO 104: Wooly mammoth prosciutto

Jul 31 2024 77 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Three dimensional architectur

TWiEVO 103: Change the world by duplicating yourself

Jul 08 2024 98 mins  
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 Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Join the MicrobeTV Discord se