Big Biology

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow does our indoor, modern lifestyle affect our microbiome? How does this novel microbiome affect our health? On this episode, Marty and Art talk with Rob Dunn, an applied ecologist at North Carolina State University. Rob studies the organisms that we come into contact with every day, from the microbes in our bodies to the insects in our homes. Tune into this episode to hear Marty and Art talk to Rob about the crazy diversity of microbes on our skin and its importance in our health and our food. Many of the ideas we discuss are from Rob’s most recent book, Never Home Alone.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow can cicadas eat nothing but tree sap for 17 years? How do endosymbiotic relationships evolve? What do bacteria-insect symbioses teach us about the evolution of mitochondria and chloroplasts? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with John McCutcheon, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Montana. John studies symbioses between bacteria and cicadas—exploring what each partner provides for the other, how cicadas transmit bacteria to their offspring, and what the consequences are for the evolution of bacterial genomes (hint: they are extreme!). This research raises basic questions about what an individual even is.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow did sex evolve? Why are there sexes at all? what are the evolutionary costs and benefits of sex? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with Hanna Kokko, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Zurich. Hanna studies the evolution of sex and the vast panoply of strategies that organisms use to reproduce. Check out this nice graphical illustration of her work on her website!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comWhat role does one part of the federal government, the National Science Foundation, play in biological research in the US? How will their new funding initiative help us discover Rules of Life? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with two NSF directors, Joanne Tornow. the head of the Biological Sciences directorate, and Arthur “Skip” Lupia, the head of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Science directorate. They talked with them about one of NSF’s Big Ideas. One Idea, called Rules of Life, challenges scientists to study some of the same ‘big’ questions that we’ve addressed on this podcast, including how genotypes become phenotypes. They also asked how an agency dedicated to advancing science operates within an executive branch that has publicly criticized some major scientific conclusions.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow is climate change affecting the distribution of animals? How will these changes in species distribution affect us? Tune in to hear Marty and Art talk with physiological ecologist Jenn Sunday about how climate change is affecting the distribution of life on Earth. Jenn is a professor at McGill University who attempts to answer these questions at a global scale.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comDoes plasticity always help organisms adapt? What happens if it doesn't? Could it speed up evolution Tune in to hear Art and Marty talk with evolutionary ecologist Cameron Ghalambor about the role of non-adaptive plasticity in evolution. Cam is a professor at Colorado State University who tackles these questions by studying guppies. We interviewed Cam at a bar in Tampa, FL during a conference for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comDo single genes cause variation in traits or are gene effects more complex than that? How do genes interact with one another, and how do those interactions alter the pace and direction of evolution? Do those interactions constrain or facilitate evolution? Tune in to hear Art and Marty talk with Mihaela Pavlicev about these questions and more! Mihaela is a geneticist at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she studies big new ideas about links between genes and traits.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comWill cancer ever become just another chronic but manageable disease? What can a squirrel biologist teach us about treating cancer? In this episode, Marty and Art talk with Joel Brown about how to contain cancer using basic ideas from ecology and evolution. To Joel, cells in tumors are like organisms in ecosystems, and fighting cancer means using what we know about species in nature to tilt the playing field against the worst kinds of cancer cells. He and his team at the Moffit Cancer Research Center in Tampa, Florida, are starting to have some remarkable success treating different kinds of cancer. We interviewed Joel in front of a live audience at Circa 1949 in Tampa, FL—our first live event! We had a great time interacting with the audience and plan to do more events like this in the next few months. If you’d like to host a Big Biology event, please email us at info@bigbiology.org!

Why do some animals have weird genitalia? Why is there conflict between males and females when it comes to producing offspring? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with Patty Brennan about how sex in the animal kingdom is not always about love and cooperation; often it's also about conflict. And, this conflict can lead to some pretty crazy genitalia. Patty is an evolutionary biologist at Mount Holyoke College. Her research shows that the birds and the bees aren't so simple for the birds (or, as it turns out, for most other animals). Follow Patty on Twitter: @sexinnature 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.comHow has the Tree of Life changed since Darwin? How do genes jump from one species to another? Why do we have viral genes in our DNA? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with David Quammen about his new book “The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life.” In this podcast, they discuss how recent advances in genetics has changed our way of thinking about evolution and the relatedness of plants, animals, and microbes. They also discuss David's methods to his madness as he chooses the topics for each of his books. David is an award winning science writer and journalist. He has published over 15 books and written numerous articles for National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Book Review.