Biopedia

Natural selection is not just one phenomenon, but can be spliced into different types depending on what its action results in. Today's episode will examine disruptive selection, stabilising selection ...

26 Dec 20215min

Cultured cells are useful, but have their limitations. For instance, B cells- white blood cells which produce antibodies- have a limited lifespan in vitro, meaning their use for making antibodies comm...

24 Okt 20214min

Perhaps you've never thought much about bonsai trees. However, their existence does raise some biologically relevant questions. For instance, how is a bonsai tree created? Moreover, as we'll see in to...

17 Okt 20215min

We're going to explore a particular kind of hybridisation today- the kind that produces grolar bears. As the name might suggest, this refers to the offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Its ex...

10 Okt 20213min

Back in episode 49, I mentioned the Great American Interchange, which took place three million years ago when North America and South America collided and were connected by the isthmus of Panama. Howe...

3 Okt 202112min

Photosynthesis has proven a useful tool in life's arsenal, but it isn't perfect. This is because one of its enzymes- RuBisCo for short- is not equipped to deal with our oxygenated world and as such so...

26 Sep 202110min

Altruism- or actions by organisms which ultimately provide a benefit to other organisms- have been puzzling evolutionary scientists since Darwin's time. As such, attempts have been made to explain how...

19 Sep 20216min

If Alfred Russell Wallace (1823- 1913) is thought of at all, he is an after-thought to his far more famous counterpart Charles Darwin and the theory of natural selection. However, he has also had an i...

12 Sep 20215min