TWiEVO 130: The Stickleback Shuffle
Nels and Vincent explain a study showing unique site-specific and shared habitat-level adaptation in a classic system of repeated evolution,...
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This Week in Evolution
This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology behind what makes us tick.
Episodes
20 of 106 episodesTWiEVO 129: How avocados do it
Nels and Vincent discuss the finding that balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex a...
TWiEVO 128: Ready, set, cell
Nels and Vincent discuss a chemically defined synthetic cell capable of growth and replication. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subs...
TWiEVO 127: The barley knew what to mildew
Nels and Vincent discuss molecular mimicry of a pathogen virulence target by a plant immune receptor. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniell...
TWiEVO 126: Beyond Inheritance with Roxanne Khamsi
TWiEVO 126: Beyond Inheritance with Roxanne Khamsi June 1, 2026 Science journalist Roxanne Khamsi joins Nels and Vincent discuss her first b...
TWiEVO 125: Evolution's egg timer
Nels and Vincent discuss the development of a comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of early embryogenesis from 61 animal species to understand...
TWiEVO 124: The little ribozyme that could
Nels and Vincent discuss the discovery of a short RNA with the ability to catalyze its own synthesis. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniell...
TWiEVO 123: Stinkbug eggs with a schmear of fungus
Nels and Vincent explain how stinkbug females smear fungus on their eggs to protect them from wasp parasitism. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent...
TWiEVO 122: The evolution of selfishness
Nels and Vincent explain how selfishness evolved multiple times from an essential tRNA synthetase gene in a nematode. Hosts: Nels Elde and V...
TWiEVO 121: AI imagines viruses
Nels and Vincent examines the use of AI and genome language models to design novel derivatives of bacteriophage phiX174. Hosts: Nels Elde an...
TWiEVO 120: Sparkle pony
Nels and Vincent explain research which shows that insertion of a retrovirus into the genome regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish...
TWiEVO 119: Drive fast, take chances, and encode a Y chromosome
Nels and Vincent explain research attempting to explain why among humans, females around the world live on average 5 years longer than males...
TWiEVO 118: Mother of an unrelated brother
Nels and Vincent discuss research which shows a shift from the rule that living organisms produce same-species offspring: an ant that produc...
TWiEVO 117: Genes that don't leave
Nels and Vincent discuss research on hidden evolutionary constraints that dictate the retention of coronavirus accessory gene, which was fla...
TWiEVO 116: An ant and two fungi walk into a bar and meet a naked mole rat
Nels and Vincent review research on how neuropeptides influence the behavior of leafcutter ants, and regulate the different caste behaviors...
TWiEVO 115: Even the archaea are going viral
Nels and Vincent discuss an ultra reduced archaeal genome, the closest cellular entity to date that approaches a viral strategy of existence...
TWiEVO 114: The best experiments ever done
Nels and Vincent review the properties of Mendel's pea genes through the lens of modern genetic analysis. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racan...
TWiEVO 113: A wolf in wolf's clothing
Nels and Vincent explain the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Appl...
TWiEVO 112: Sex-Z cephalopods
Nels and Vincent explain the ancient evolutionary origin of sex in cephalopods. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Ap...
TWiEVO 111: Copy that, genome
Nels and Vincent explain how template switching during DNA replication is a widespread source of adaptive gene amplification. Hosts: Nels El...