Scientists talking to scientists, but accessible to anyone. We are living in a golden age of biology research. Big Biology is a podcast that tells the stories of scientists tackling some of the biggest unanswered questions in biology.
Your hosts, Marty Martin and Art Woods, talk to leading scientists from around the world about topics like why we drink alcohol, human consciousness and artificial intelligence, where diseases come from, and whether Godzilla could actually exist. From each conversation, we produce two podcasts—a condensed version lasting 5-10 minutes, which focuses on just the highlights, and a longer, lightly edited version of the entire conversation. You can listen to the podcasts here, on the BigBiology web site, or get them on iTunes and Google Play.
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Episode 095: Why are we like this? (with Tina Lasisi)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Why do humans look so different from one another? Why do we have different types of hair and different skin colors? And what do these traits have to do with the concept of race?
On this episode, we talk with Tina Lasisi, incoming ... Read More
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Episode 094: Synthesizing life on the planet (with John Glass)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What’s the smallest number of genes that cells need to grow and reproduce? Is it possible to synthesize minimal genomes and insert them into cells? What do minimal genomes teach us about life?
In this episode, we talk to John Glass, leader of ... Read More
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Episode 093: Assembling life in the universe (with Sara Walker)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How will we find life beyond Earth? Can we use a molecule's complexity to distinguish life from non-life?
A common way to search for extraterrestrial life is to look for signs of complex organic molecules on other moons and planets. One trouble with this approach, ... Read More
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Episode 092: A journey into the brilliant abyss (with Helen Scales)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What hidden life lies at the bottom of the deep ocean? How do so many species survive and even thrive with so little light and food and at such pressure?
In this episode, we talk to Helen Scales, a marine biologist, writer, and ... Read More
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Episode 091: How stealth organs make super soldier ants (with Rajee Rajakumar)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What is eco-evo-devo? How can ants help us understand the evolution of development?
There are 20 quadrillion ants in the world, and they come in lots of different shapes and sizes. We even see big differences within colonies, like ants in the genus Pheidole which ... Read More
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Episode 090: Fabricated images threaten the integrity of Alzheimer’s research (with Charles Piller)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What happens when potential fraud is detected in research papers on major medical issues?
In this episode, we talk to Charles Piller, an investigative journalist who published a shocking story in Science magazine in July this year laying out compelling evidence ... Read More
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Episode 089: How one gene determines the fate of a food web (with Matt Barbour)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Can genes in single species act as keystones in ecosystems? What is AOP2, and how does it affect community composition and persistence?
In this episode, we talk to Matt Barbour, a professor at the University of Sherbrooke, about “keystones” in biology. You’re probably ... Read More
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Episode 088: How I learned to stop worrying and follow the data (with Timothy Caulfield)
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How much coffee should we drink? Is there a scientific way to have a healthy, happy life? And how do we distinguish scientific sense from nonsense?
In this episode, we talk with author and University of Alberta professor Timothy Caulfield about decision making ... Read More
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Episode 087: Life in the lab, are model organisms an asset or impediment to biology?
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What are model organisms? Why have they been so important to biology?
Much of biological research over the past 50 years has relied on model organisms. These species – which include mice, rats, fruit flies, and others – have yielded many insights and led ... Read More
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Episode 086: What the flux? The evolution of oxygen cascades
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How do we properly study complex traits? How does organismal function relate to how organisms evolve?
All animals use oxygen to convert sugars and other substrates into energy using a multi-step pathway called the oxygen cascade. This cascade involves many, many parts of the respiratory, ... Read More
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Episode 085: The rise of the mammals and fall of the dinosaurs
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What makes a mammal a mammal? How did mammals survive the KT event when dinosaurs mostly went extinct? And why did mammals become so dominant?
When we think of the Cretaceous, or the Jurassic, we immediately think of dinosaurs. But mammals were there too! ... Read More
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Episode 084: Fractals in the Foliage
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What do plants, animals and even river systems have in common?
Branching networks are a universal element of life on Earth. Networks of veins, roots, xylem, phloem, and nerves – they all have large components that branch, usually repeatedly, into smaller and smaller components. ... Read More
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Episode 083: The Amazon in us
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How does one of the most diverse groups on the planet, the ants, interact with the extremely diverse group of microbes that live on and inside them?
On this episode, we talk to Corrie Moreau, a professor of entomology at Cornell University, about ... Read More
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Episode 082: Organisms are not machines
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Why shouldn’t we think of living things as machines? What is and what isn’t an organism?
In this episode, we talk to Dan Nicholson, a philosopher and biologist from George Mason University about his new edited volume, "Everything Flows: Toward a ... Read More
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Episode 081: How staying cool blunts evolution
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Why are tropical mountain passes ‘higher’ than temperate ones? Why do some organisms regulate their temperature better than others, and what effect does this have on evolution?
On this episode, we talk with Martha Muñoz, a professor in Yale’s Department ... Read More
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Episode 080: Human-wildlife conflict in a changing world
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What is the link between climate change, declining wildlife populations and conflict between animals and humans? And how should scientists, governments and individuals manage declining populations of wildlife, especially when humans rely on them?
On this episode, we explore the interface of biology and resource ... Read More
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Episode 079: How the genetic lottery affects complex human traits
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Does our DNA matter for our life outcomes? Can and should we use it for better social policy? And why have these questions caused such a stir?
On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Kathryn Paige Harden, a professor in the ... Read More
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Episode 078: The amphibian omnivore's dilemma: Plasticity-led evolution in spadefoot tadpoles
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What roles does plasticity play in evolution? Where does novelty come from, and how does it become widespread in populations?
On this episode, we talk all things plasticity with David Pfennig, a professor at the University of North Carolina, and ... Read More
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Episode 077: A (Very) Short Interview with Henry Gee: 4 Billion Years in 30 Minutes
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How did life on Earth get from its humble beginnings to the dazzling array of forms we see now and in the fossil record?
On this episode, we talk with paleontologist Henry Gee about his latest book, A (Very) Short ... Read More
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Episode 076: Beasty beats: The origins of musicality
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Do animals dance to the beat? When is birdsong music for a bird? Humans hear music in everything, but what about other species?
On this episode we talk with Henkjan Honing, professor of music cognition at the University of Amsterdam, about the biology ... Read More
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Episode 075: Hidden network: The evolutionary relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plants
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What rules dictate trade in symbiosis? How did the complex relationship between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi evolve? What’s really going on in the world beneath our feet?
On this episode, we talk to Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist at VU University ... Read More
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Episode 074: Food for thought: Plant domestication and the promise of green super rice
Art Woods and Marty Martin
How and when did early humans domesticate the plants that we use today? Did these ancient farmers purposefully select traits, or did they domesticate unconsciously? In the future, can breeders and farmers grow more nutritious and robust food using genomics?
In this episode, we talk ... Read More
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Episode 073: A gene's-eye view: Useful tool or narrow lens?
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Are genes the primary units of selection and main drivers of adaptation? How does a gene’s-eye view of evolution fit into modern biology?
On this episode, we talk with Arvid Ågren, an evolutionary biologist and Wenner-Gren Fellow at Uppsala University, about... Read More
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Episode 072: Stability and Change: Lessons from the Serengeti
Art Woods and Marty Martin
Why is the Serengeti such a special ecosystem? Why does it support so many different species, and what ecological processes regulate the enormous population sizes of its dominant large-bodied herbivores?
On this episode, we talk with Tony Sinclair, professor emeritus of zoology at ... Read More
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Episode 071: A Tattoo on the Brain: The neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease
Art Woods and Marty Martin
What causes Alzheimer’s disease? Why are some people more at risk than others? What are the prospects for a cure and the best options for slowing the onset of symptoms?
On this episode, we talk with Daniel Gibbs, a retired neurologist, about ... Read More