This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comWhat was life like in wartime England for a young female scientist? What about living and doing research for months each year with your daughters and husband on a remote island? On this episode, we talk with Rosemary Grant, Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. Rosemary is best-known for her foundational research on the Darwin’s Finches of the Galapagos Islands, conducted in collaboration with her husband, Peter. Our conversation focuses on Rosemary’s new autobiography “One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward: One Woman’s Path to Becoming a Biologist.” We first discuss her upbringing in the Lake District during WWII, and how her family and the people she met there, as well as later scientific mentors like Conrad Waddington, shaped her path to science. Then, we talk about her work with Peter on the finches of Daphne Island, discussing their contributions to evolutionary biology. Rosemary also describes the joys of raising her girl in the Galapagos and gives advice to young people thinking about a career in biology.Art by Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow do biologists study the influence of heat on organisms and how can this be applied to the study of climate change? What impacts mountaineer survival at high altitudes?On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Professor Emeritus at University of Washington and recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Ray Huey. Ray is well known…

Can we study evolution in the wild? Are some species “super-evolvers”?On the episode, we talk with Alison Derry, a professor of biology at the University of Quebec in Montreal, and Andrew Hendry, a professor in the Department of Biology at McGill University, Canada. This episode is the second we’ve done on the team’s work, and Andrew was also a guest on our first episode in the series. This conversation was recorded live in front of an audience at Kenai Peninsula College, in Soldotna, Alaska. The college is just a few miles from the lakes where Alison, Andrew, and many of their colleagues and students carry out experiments on threespine sticklebacks. We ask Alison and Andrew about their research on the rapid evolution of these fish, which were recently reintroduced to the lakes, and how the introduction of two distinct stickleback ecotypes are affecting the evolution of zooplankton in the lakes. We also discuss the central position of sticklebacks in the food web and how the sticklebacks are impacting the ecosystems now as well as how they likely impacted the lakes in the evolutionary past. Art by Keating Shahmehri. Audio from Hunter Morrison at KDLL. Find a transcript of this episode on our website. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe

Deepa Agashe, a biologist, discusses mutation bias and its impact on evolution using E. coli research. A study revealed a high frequency of beneficial mutations in mutant bacterial lines, suggesting shifts in mutation bias generate new beneficial mutations. The episode explores the surprising findings and implications of mutation biases on evolutionary trajectories.

This week on Big Biology we're sharing an episode from The Naked Scientists Podcast about how humans lost their tails.Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans do not have tails. It sets us apart from other primates, but suggests that our shared evolutionary ancestors had them. So why did we lose them, and how? Speaking with Chris Smith, from The Naked Scientists Podcast, NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Itai Yanai explains that the way this study began was literally a pain in the "tail" for one of his colleagues...Credit: The Naked Scientists Podcast This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe

Science writer Phil Ball discusses the flaws of traditional biology metaphors, the concept of the selfish gene, and the intricate levels of agency in multicellular organisms. He also explores the biomedical implications of viewing cancer cells as entities with their own goals.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow should biologists deal with the massive amounts of population genetic data that are now routinely available? Will AIs make biologists obsolete?In this episode, we talk with Andy Kern, an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Oregon. Andy has spent much of his career applying machine learning methods in population genetics. We talk with him about the fundamental questions that population genetics aims to answer and about older theoretical and empirical approaches  We then turn to the promise of machine learning methods, which are increasingly being used to estimate population genetic structure, patterns of  migration, and the geographic origins of trafficked samples. These methods are powerful because they can leverage high dimensional genomic data. Andy also talks about the implications of AI and machine learning for the future of biology research. Cover Art by Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode at our website.

In this podcast, Rosemary Braun discusses studying complex biological networks, circadian rhythms, and using machine learning to target treatments based on individual circadian rhythm. The episode explores the search for undiscovered rules in biology, dynamics of gene expression networks, resilience in circadian clockkeeping, and the impact of genetic variations on gene regulation.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow do biologists strike a productive balance between descriptive natural history and manipulative experiments in the lab or field? Should we bring back species to areas where they’ve gone extinct and what values do we use to make these decisions? What is wildness and how do we cultivate it?On this episode, we talk with Harry Greene, a herpetologist and adjunct professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, whose distinguished career has spanned decades. Harry is an E.O. Wilson Award recipient and also received the PEN Literary award for his book, Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. In the episode, we talk with Harry about the importance of natural history to biology. We also tackle the topic of rewilding, a type of biological restoration that involves translocating species where they still occur to regions where they no longer are found, in order to restore ecosystem function. Harry talks about how his views on rewilding have changed over time, including how rewilding ourselves could improve our health and happinessCover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

Samir Okasha, Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Bristol, discusses the concept of agency in evolution, exploring definitions of agency, genes as agents, agency in group dynamics, and the relationship between agency and adaptation.