This Week in Evolution

Nels and Vincent explain the ancient evolutionary origin of sex in cephalopods. Hosts: Nels Elde [http://cellvolution.org/] and Vincent Racaniello [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello] Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-evolution/id1067573465], RSS [http://twievo.libsyn.com/rss], email [http://eepurl.com/Gcw59] Become a patron [https://www.microbe.tv/contribute] of TWiEVO Links for this episode * Join the MicrobeTV Discord server [https://discord.gg/vmnCyBPQds] * Evolution of sex in cephalopods [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225000053?via%3Dihub] (Current Biol) * Timestamps by Jolene [https://ramseylab.vercel.app/] Science Picks Nels –  [https://notebooklm.google/]Speaking into a microphone? Your audio quality can impact the way people view you [https://www.npr.org/2025/03/24/nx-s1-5334468/speaking-into-a-microphone-your-audio-quality-can-impact-the-way-people-view-you] Vincent – Remedy Supported by Kennedy Leaves Some Measles Patients More Ill [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/health/measles-kennedy-vitamin-a.html] Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles [http://trampledbyturtles.com/] Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent explain how template switching during DNA replication is a widespread source of adaptive gene amplification. Hosts: Nels Elde [http://cellvolution.org/] and Vincent Racaniello [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello] Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-evolution/id1067573465], RSS [http://twievo.libsyn.com/rss], email [http://eepurl.com/Gcw59] Become a patron [https://www.microbe.tv/contribute] of TWiEVO Links for this episode * Join the MicrobeTV Discord server [https://discord.gg/vmnCyBPQds] * Template switching [https://elifesciences.org/articles/98934] and gene amplification (eLife) * Timestamps by Jolene [https://ramseylab.vercel.app/] Science Picks Nels –  [https://notebooklm.google/]Jeremy Berg on Bluesky – jeremymberg.bsky.social Vincent –  [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04194-4#:~:text=But%20speed%20wasn't%20Lucy's,roughly%208%20metres%20per%20second.]Dickson Despommier, 84 [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/science/dickson-despommier-dead.html] Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles [http://trampledbyturtles.com/] Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent reveal that worker ants amputate their colleagues injured leg to prevent infections. Hosts: Nels Elde [http://cellvolution.org/] and Vincent Racaniello [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello] Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-evolution/id1067573465], RSS [http://twievo.libsyn.com/rss], email [http://eepurl.com/Gcw59] Become a patron [https://www.microbe.tv/contribute] of TWiEVO Links for this episode * Join the MicrobeTV Discord server [https://discord.gg/vmnCyBPQds] * Wound-dependent leg amputation [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982224008054?via%3Dihub#kwrds0010] in ants (Curr Biol) * Timestamps by Jolene [https://ramseylab.vercel.app/] Science Picks Nels –  [https://notebooklm.google/]The Science Bridge [https://open.spotify.com/show/0Q0bn3GLfREFNKdihtDiRz] Vincent –  [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04194-4#:~:text=But%20speed%20wasn't%20Lucy's,roughly%208%20metres%20per%20second.]US withdraws from WHO [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-the-worldhealth-organization/] Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles [http://trampledbyturtles.com/] Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent discuss the molecular and genetic origins of sex-linked orange coat color in cats. Hosts: Nels Elde [http://cellvolution.org/] and Vincent Racaniello [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello] Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-evolution/id1067573465], RSS [http://twievo.libsyn.com/rss], email [http://eepurl.com/Gcw59] Become a patron [https://www.microbe.tv/contribute] of TWiEVO Links for this episode * Join the MicrobeTV Discord server [https://discord.gg/vmnCyBPQds] * Orange coat color [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.21.624608v1] in cats (bioRxiv) * Timestamps by Jolene [https://ramseylab.vercel.app/] Science Picks Nels – AI takes up science podcasting [https://notebooklm.google/] Vincent – Humans evolved for distance running – but ancestor ‘Lucy’ didn’t go far or fast [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04194-4#:~:text=But%20speed%20wasn't%20Lucy's,roughly%208%20metres%20per%20second.] Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles [http://trampledbyturtles.com/] Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

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 [http://cellvolution.org/] and Vincent Racaniello [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello] Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-evolution/id1067573465], RSS [http://twievo.libsyn.com/rss], email [http://eepurl.com/Gcw59] Become a patron [https://www.microbe.tv/contribute] of TWiEVO Links for this episode * Join the MicrobeTV Discord server [https://discord.gg/vmnCyBPQds] * Virus associated with [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.18.613759v1] P. knowlsei (bioRxiv) * Timestamps by Jolene [https://ramseylab.vercel.app/] Science Picks Nels – The peace of wild things, poem by Wendell Berry [https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/03/12/wendell-berry-the-peace-of-wild-things-animated/] Vincent – All Life on Earth Today Descended From a Single Cell. Meet LUCA [https://www.quantamagazine.org/all-life-on-earth-today-descended-from-a-single-cell-meet-luca-20241120/] Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles [http://trampledbyturtles.com/] Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv