This Week in Evolution

TWiEVO 56: Revising the drafts of coronavirus evolution

May 20, 2020

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

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SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity (Inf, Genet, Evol) 3:09
Re-emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (bioRxiv) 32:00
Tackling SARS-CoV-2 rumors (virological.org) 42:38
Letters read on TWiEVO 56 2:57, 45:50
Image credit
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:22:36

Nels – The Cell in Evolution
Vincent – Visual Science

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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TWiEVO 55: Coronavirus evolution from soup to nuts

May 6, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, with a report that the coronavirus proofreading enzyme stimulates RNA recombination, and debunking the conclusion that a change in the viral spike glycoprotein is associated with increased human to human transmission.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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CoV proofreading enzyme stimulates recombination (bioRxiv) 7:38
CoV spike mutation pipeline (bioRxiv) 41:26
Issues with CoV sequencing data (virological.org) 57:20
Bill Hanage on selection vs bottleneck (threader.app) 1:00:24
Image credit
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:07:44

Nels – In Memoriam: Gordon Lark
Vincent – John Oliver Discussion of Antibody Tests

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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TWiEVO 54: Rough drafts of SARS-CoV-2 science

April 25, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, including function of the furin cleavage site, whether Vervet cells are an informative system, another bat isolate, and a nomenclature to assist genomic epidemiology.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cells (bioRxiv) 9:49
More related SARSr virus from bat (bioRxiv) 46:16
Patient isolates in Vero cells (medRxiv) 30:06
Nomenclature for genomic epidemiology (bioRxiv) 57:32
Letters read on TWiEVO 54 1:04:00
Image credit
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:13:59

Nels – EvoEco seminars
Vincent – Coronavirus book for children

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 53: Virus evolution by land and by sea and by CoV, part II

April 4, 2020

Nels and Vincent continue their discussion of SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, focusing on what the genome sequences tell us about the virus.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Clement Chow with COVID-19 (Salt Lake Trib) 11:30
Scientists exposed to coronavirus (Nature) 14:15
CoV by Britt Glaunsinger (YouTube) 25:50
Genetic epidemiology of novel coronavirus (nextstrain.org) 31:01, 42:21
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:24:55

Nels – Science Mill Explorer Zone
Vincent – COVID-19 treatment and therapy tracker

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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TWiEVO 52: Virus evolution by land and by sea and by CoV

February 26, 2020

Nels and Vincent examine SARS-CoV-2 from an evolutionary viewpoint, examining what the spike glycoprotein sequence informs us about the origin of the virus.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Distinct CoV name needed (Lancet) 13:17
Proximal origin of SARS-COV-2 (virological) 42:51, 45:17
CoV spillovers not rare (Goats and Soda) 1:05:31
SARS-CoV-2 phylodynamics analysis (virological) 1:02:14
Bat CoV surveillance in China (PLoS Path)
Image credit
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:18:59

Nels – Alejandro Sanchez TED Talk
Vincent – WHO SARS-CoV-2 Sitrep

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 51: The starting point paradox

January 22, 2020

Nels and Vincent dive deep into evolution and consider how new proteins emerged billions of years ago, when there were no other proteins to serve as starting material.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Primordial emergence of a nucleic acid binding protein (bioRxiv) 7:48
Tawfik laboratory 11:03
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Letters read on TWiEVO 51 48:08
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:01:10

Nels – Universal principled review
Vincent – Hostile Planet by National Geographic

Listener Pick

Courtney – Nightwish Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Shudder Before The Beautiful

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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TWiEVO 50: I’m dreaming of a Y chromosome

December 23, 2019

Nels and Vincent discuss signatures of sex chromosome evolution revealed by assembly of a young vertebrate Y chromosome from 3-spined stickleback fish.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Assembly of a young vertebrate Y chromosome (bioRxiv) 4:30
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Letters read on TWiEVO 50 1:09:21
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks

Nels – Genome from a 5,700-Year-Old Wad of Chewed Gum
Vincent – NJ Sea-Level Rise Reports

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 49: A giant podcast on giant viruses

November 29, 2019

Rich joins Nels and Vincent for a debriefing on the 4th Ringberg Symposium on Giant Virus Biology in Tegernsee, Germany.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Rich Condit

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Endless giant virus forms most beautiful (TWiV 575) 12:18
4th Ringberg Giant Virus Meeting Program (pdf) 4:50
Photographs by Matthias Fischer 5:15
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:42:56

Rich – Flightradar24
Nels – Deutsches Museum Munich
Vincent – Diversify Microbiology

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

.

TWiEVO 48: Flipping out with choanos on caffeine

October 30, 2019

Nels and Vincent reveal a new choanoflagellate that forms multicellular cup shaped colonies that respond to light to alternate between feeding and swimming behavior.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiEVO 48 (57 MB .mp3, 94 min)
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Microbial accomplices in multicellularity (TWiEVO 11) 3:00
Light regulated collective contractility (Science) 2:41
Image credit
Letters read on TWiEVO 48 1:09:29
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:24:00

Nels – How to write a great science paper by Cormac McCarthy
Vincent – Natural Selection Store

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 47: On the origin of beer species

September 19, 2019

Nels and Vincent trace the origins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains used to make beer, and find that ales and lagers are made with yeasts that were derived from those used to make European grape wine and Asian rice wine.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiEVO 47 (56 MB .mp3, 92 min)
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Origins of beer yeasts (PLoS Biol) 7:48
Chateau Jiahu beer 19:19, 1:24:56
Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Science Picks 1:21:24

Nels – Population fluctuations in 10 biggest cities
Vincent – 1.7 million year old rhino tooth (original Nature paper)

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 56: Revising the drafts of coronavirus evolution

Science Picks 1:22:36

TWiEVO 55: Coronavirus evolution from soup to nuts

Science Picks 1:07:44

TWiEVO 54: Rough drafts of SARS-CoV-2 science

Science Picks 1:13:59

TWiEVO 53: Virus evolution by land and by sea and by CoV, part II

Science Picks 1:24:55

TWiEVO 52: Virus evolution by land and by sea and by CoV

Science Picks 1:18:59

TWiEVO 51: The starting point paradox

Science Picks 1:01:10

Listener Pick

TWiEVO 50: I’m dreaming of a Y chromosome

Science Picks

TWiEVO 49: A giant podcast on giant viruses

Science Picks 1:42:56

TWiEVO 48: Flipping out with choanos on caffeine

Science Picks 1:24:00

TWiEVO 47: On the origin of beer species

Science Picks 1:21:24

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