Big Biology

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comWhat role does development play in evolution? How can biology incorporate a broader, more complex definition of what it means to be an organism?In this episode, we talk with Scott Gilbert and Tobias Uller, two of the authors who wrote Evolution Evolving: The Developmental Origins of Adaptation and Biodiversity. Tobias is a professor of Biodiversity and …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow have organisms changed the Earth and what can humans learn from its deep past?On this episode, we talk with Stephen Porder, a Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology and the Associate Provost for Sustainability at Brown University. Stephen is also the author of Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Futu…

How do natural selection and sexual selection interact? What can observing adaptive radiation in the wild teach us about evolution?On this episode, we talk with Dale Broder, an Assistant Professor at American University, and Robin Tinghitella, an Associate Professor at the University of Denver. They study the Pacific field cricket, a fascinating organism that exemplifies both adaptive radiation and the interaction of natural selection and sexual selection. This species uses song for mate attraction, but the song also attracts Ormia ochracea, a fly that parasitizes the cricket. The fly recently invaded areas where the cricket is common and in response, some crickets evolved differentsongs and even silence. We talk with Robin and Dale about how their research team characterizes these cricket songs and the different wing morphologies that produce the songs. We also discuss the role of female preference (or lack thereof) in the evolution of different mating songs and how remarkably rapidly this song evolution occurred.This episode was supported by a grant to Dale and Robin from the National Science Foundation.Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comWhat are spiny mice and why are they so social? What about their brains makes them gregarious? Might network neuroscience be a useful framework for understanding spiny mice behavior?On this episode, we talk with Aubrey Kelly, an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Emory University. Aubrey is a behavioral neuroscientist working on many vertebrate specie…

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.