TWiEVO 65: Variants in the mist

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

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Science Picks 1:21:23

Nels – Radio Garden
Vincent – Our World in Data – Coronavirus

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles

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TWiEVO 64: Seeing the lineages for the variants

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

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Science Picks 1:41:02

Nels – Biden Administration PCAST and The Hill We Climb
Vincent – Four inaugural quotations – Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Biden

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TWiEVO 63: Year of the coronavirus

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

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Science Picks 1:21:47

Nels – Katalin Karikos’ career and mRNA vaccines
Vincent – Reverse Engineering of mRNA vaccine

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TWiEVO 62: Army ants with Daniel Kronauer

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

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Science Picks 1:27:59

Daniel – Desert Navigator by Rüdiger Wehner and Insects of Suriname by Maria Sibylla Merian
Nels – NPR Scicommers
Vincent – The Vintage Beauty Of Soviet Control Rooms

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TWiEVO 61: Shot and chaser of SARS-CoV-2 evolution

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.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Science Picks 1:19:42

Nels – Scott Edwards bikes across US; support diversity in evolution
Vincent – 30 computers sculpture project

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TWiEVO 60: Five years of TWiEVO on the future of our past

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

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Science Picks 1:45:21

Nels – Science Mill Virtual Tour and Benefit
Vincent – Das Coronavirus summaries

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TWiEVO 59: The hypothesis giving tree

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

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Science Picks 1:22:45

Nels – Blog by Ambika Kamath
Vincent – TWiVerse

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TWiEVO 58: Not all coronaviruses ACE2 the test

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

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TWiEVO 57: SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding evolution blooms

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

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TWiEVO 56: Revising the drafts of coronavirus evolution

CoV_bank

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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Science Picks 1:22:36

Nels – The Cell in Evolution
Vincent – Visual Science

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