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.
Florian Maderspacher from Current Biology joins Nels and Vincent to discuss a special issue of the journal on birds.
TWiEVO 82: A genetic hack for the human brain
- September 22, 2022
- Tagged as: evolution, frontal cortex, H. sapiens, neocortex, neurogenesis, TKTL1
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
TWiEVO 77: The mutations of our lives
- April 26, 2022
- Tagged as: age, cancer, evolution, germline mutation, mammal, mutation, mutation rate, natural selection, somatic mutation
Alex joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his work which demonstrates that somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan in mammals.
TWiEVO 76: One-step symbiosis
- March 22, 2022
- Tagged as: E. coli, evolution, mutualism, natural selection, reduced genome, stinkbug, symbiont
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.
TWiEVO 75: Even the BANAL coronaviruses are interesting
- February 24, 2022
- Tagged as: coronavirus, Laos, pandemic, Rhinolophus bat, SARS-CoV-2, spillover, virology, virus, viruses, zoonosis
Nels and Vincent review isolation of SARS-CoV-2-like viruses from bats in Laos that can replicate in human cells.
