Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe little ribozyme that could
Episode 124
Nels and Vincent discuss the discovery of a short RNA with the ability to catalyze its own synthesis.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
Subscri…4 hours ago
Stinkbug eggs with a schmear of fungus
Episode 123
Nels and Vincent explain how stinkbug females smear fungus on their eggs to protect them from wasp parasitism.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniell…
5 hours ago
The evolution of selfishness
Episode 122
Nels and Vincent explain how selfishness evolved multiple times from an essential tRNA synthetase gene in a nematode.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Ra…
1 month, 2 weeks ago
AI imagines viruses
Episode 121
Nels and Vincent examines the use of AI and genome language models to design novel derivatives of bacteriophage phiX174.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent…
2 months, 1 week ago
Sparkle pony
Episode 120
Nels and Vincent explain research which shows that insertion of a retrovirus into the genome regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish.
Hosts: …
2 months, 1 week ago
Drive fast, take chances, and encode a Y chromosome
Episode 119
Nels and Vincent explain research attempting to explain why among humans, females around the world live on average 5 years longer than males, but th…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
Mother of an unrelated brother
Episode 118
Nels and Vincent discuss research which shows a shift from the rule that living organisms produce same-species offspring: an ant that produces indivi…
5 months ago
Genes that don't leave
Episode 117
Nels and Vincent discuss research on hidden evolutionary constraints that dictate the retention of coronavirus accessory gene, which was flagged by N…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
An ant and two fungi walk into a bar and meet a naked mole rat
Episode 116
Nels and Vincent review research on how neuropeptides influence the behavior of leafcutter ants, and regulate the different caste behaviors such as d…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
Even the archaea are going viral
Episode 115
Nels and Vincent discuss an ultra reduced archaeal genome, the closest cellular entity to date that approaches a viral strategy of existence.
Hosts: …
9 months ago