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This Week in Evolution — Natural Sciences
This Week in Evolution

This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology of what makes us tick. Hosts Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello take you through the new evolution that has been revolutionized by the field of genomics and molecular biology.

Copyright: © Copyright 2022 Vincent Racaniello

Latest Episodes:

TWiEVO 130: The Stickleback Shuffle Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent explain a study showing unique site-specific and shared habitat-level adaptation in a classic system of repeated evolution, stickleback fish.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Shared and site-specific adaptation in stickleback fish (PNAS)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Wynton Marsalis on Playing When Nobody Is Listening Vincent – With US measles deaths on the rise, local officials are stepping in where RFK Jr won't

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 129: How avocados do it Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent discuss the finding that balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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A transcription protein underlies daily sex alteration in avocado (PNAS)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Hypothesis fund and Pretty Viruses Project on iNaturalist Vincent – Hot Tuna – Water Song | Live at 4 6th Street Rock Palace (1973)

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 128: Ready, set, cell Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent discuss a chemically defined synthetic cell capable of growth and replication.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Chemically defined synthetic cell (bioRxiv)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Jimothy the short spined racoon in Seattle Vincent – Nitrogen-fixing organelle in a marine alga

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 127: The barley knew what to mildew Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent discuss molecular mimicry of a pathogen virulence target by a plant immune receptor.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Molecular mimicry of a pathogen virulence target by a plant immune receptor (Science)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Plug-in solar Vincent – This Engine Will Reinvent Space Travel

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 126: Beyond Inheritance with Roxanne Khamsi Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

TWiEVO 126: Beyond Inheritance with Roxanne Khamsi June 1, 2026

Science journalist Roxanne Khamsi joins Nels and Vincent discuss her first book, Beyond Inheritance, which explores how DNA continuously mutates throughout our lives, challenging the idea that our genetic destiny is fixed at birth.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Roxanne Khamsi

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Beyond Inheritance (Amazon)
Timestamps by Jolene

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 125: Evolution's egg timer Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent discuss the development of a comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of early embryogenesis from 61 animal species to understand the control of gene expression transitions from maternally deposited products to newly transcribed zygotic RNA.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Evolutionary landscapes of zygotic genome activation across animals (bioRxiv)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today Vincent – How Trains Take Electricity from Wires Without Breaking Contact

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 124: The little ribozyme that could Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent discuss the discovery of a short RNA with the ability to catalyze its own synthesis.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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A small polymerase ribozyme (Science)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – The University of Illinois Just Released a Popcorn So Good It Doesn't Need Butter Vincent – Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash by Alexander Clapp

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 123: Stinkbug eggs with a schmear of fungus Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent explain how stinkbug females smear fungus on their eggs to protect them from wasp parasitism.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs (Science)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – Meet the Olympic superstar who trains under the radar in Utah Vincent – The Discovery That Changed the Universe

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 122: The evolution of selfishness Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent explain how selfishness evolved multiple times from an essential tRNA synthetase gene in a nematode.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Evolution of selfishness from a tRNA synthetase gene (Nat Ecol Evol)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels - From Where Does it STEM? Vincent - An Act of Cosmic Sabotage

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 121: AI imagines viruses Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

Nels and Vincent examines the use of AI and genome language models to design novel derivatives of bacteriophage phiX174.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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AI design of bacteriophage phiX174 derivatives (bioRxiv)
Timestamps by Jolene

Science Picks

Nels – NIH official resigns after flap over risks of seasonal flu virus study and The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requests input from all interested parties on Federal policy updates that aim to accelerate the American scientific enterprise, enable groundbreaking discoveries, and ensure that scientific progress and technological innovation benefit all Americans. Vincent – One Plus One Equals One: Symbiosis and the evolution of complex life by John Archibald

Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

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