This Week in Evolution

Joe Graves joins Nels and Vincent to discuss his career in evolutionary biology and his recent book that answers questions about race and racism. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Joe Graves Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode On Racism, Not Race (Amazon) African Americans in evolutionary science (Behav Ecol Sociobiol) Biological variation and the normal (Am J Hum Biol) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Where is Webb? Vincent – Black Microbiologists Association Joe – Biology versus bias Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent review three aspects of SARS-CoV-2: phylogenetics of Omicron, a two-step fitness selection for variants, and putative RNA insertions from host genomes. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Two-step fitness selection for SARS-CoV-2 variants (Cell Rep) Host origins of SARS-CoV-2 genome insertions (Virological) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Plant virus satellite accelerates wing formation in insect Vincent – A plant virus that switched to vertebrates Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent discuss evolutionary evidence for an epidemic of coronavirus infection over 20,000 years ago in East Asia, and reconstruction of the membrane differences between bacteria and Archaea reveals unexpected differences in permeability. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Ancient coronavirus epidemic in East Asia (Curr Biol) Gene-culture coevolution and human evolutionary transition (Proc Roy Soc B) Membrane permeability at the lipid divide (bioRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Slowed canonical progress in large fields of science Vincent – Virology Live Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent explain a method to calculate the mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2, and the role of a single amino acid change in spike in enhancing fitness of the delta variant and enabling it to out-compete the alpha variant. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate (Genome Biology Evolution) Delta spike change enhances fitness (bioRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Leading Edge Symposium Vincent – Epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Listener Pick Thomas – The gene's-eye view of evolution by J. Arvid Ågren Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Carl Zimmer joins Nels to talk about science writing, science communication, viruses, and his new book, On Life's Edge. Host: Nels Elde Guest: Carl Zimmer Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode On Life's Edge by Carl Zimmer Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Remembrance of Dick Lewontin Carl – From telomere to telomere: the transcriptional and epigenetic state of human repeat elements Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent discuss the identification of novel bat coronaviruses that shed light on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, dating the first cases of COVID-19 to mid-November 2019, and recovery of deleted genome sequences from early in the Wuhan outbreak. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Identification of novel bat coronaviruses (Cell) Dating first cases of COVID-19 (PLoS Path) Recovery of deleted SARS-CoV-2 sequences (bioRxiv) Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – The Last—And Only—Foreign Scientist in the Wuhan Lab Speaks Out Vincent – Human Behavior During the Pandemic Is More Important Than Any Covid Variant Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent explain a new method for calculating the most recent common ancestor of SARS-CoV-2, which concludes that the ancestral virus was circulating in October/November 2019, before its first detection in China. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Evolutionary portrait of SARS-CoV-2 (Mol Biol Evolution) Letters read on TWiEVO 68 Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Ed Yong pandemic trauma and We're Not Ready for the Next Pandemic Vincent – Furin cleavage site is not a smoking gun Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent review evidence for recombinant SARS-CoV-2 genomes arising in the B.1.1.7 lineage within the United Kingdom. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Recombination in B.1.1.7 lineage (Virological) CoVariants Letters read on TWiEVO 67 Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Mars rover helicopter flight! Vincent – TWiN 17: Worms see the light with Michael Nitabach Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Nels and Vincent review a preprint demonstrating that changes in the genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 variants B1.351 and P.1 allow the viruses to reproduce in mouse cells in culture and in laboratory mice. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Tony Schountz on TWiV 668 SARS-CoV-2 variants infect mice (bioRxiv) CoVariants Letters read on TWiEVO 66 Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Billion years of plate tectonics Vincent – Sapiens a Graphic History by Yuval Noah Harari Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

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 Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode Selective sweep drove SARS-CoV-2 adaptation (bioRxiv) Novel coronavirus haplotypes Letters read on TWiEVO 65 Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks! Science Picks Nels – Radio Garden Vincent – Our World in Data – Coronavirus Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv