Phenotypic Plasticity - When Flexibility Actually Matters #58

Kidneys are incredibly important, but how do they work? And how do you know if your kidneys are sick? We kick off our series on kidneys by talking with nephrologist Dr. Ayesha Anwaar in part 1 of our 4-part series on kidneys.

In part two of our interview, Dr. van der Kooi describes how his lab decodes the messages in ultraviolet patterns, flower shapes, and even the pros and cons of glossiness. These features are how flowers attract pollinators and guide them to the right place. He also describes what attracted him to this work with flowers.

What color is that flower? In this episode, pollination biologist Dr. Casper van der Kooi explains how pigments and structure create flower colors. But that is only part of the story. Color isn't the same for everyone, and he explains why plants might look different to birds, butterflies, beetles, bees, and even you and me. So, if we see different colors, is color real?

Do spiders visit Sephora? In part 2 of our interview with Dr. Nathan Morehouse, he explains the evolution of color vision in peacock spiders, his creative experiments, and how you figure out what a spider sees when it looks at you.

There's more to color than meets the eye...specifically, spider eyes! In this episode, we talk to Dr. Nathan Morehouse about how peacock spider eyes are put together, how they work, and what matters to a female watching a male spider’s mating dance. 

Every few years, we hear that El Niño is on the way! But what does that actually mean? And what is El Niño, anyway? In this episode, Dr. Gary McManus of the Oklahoma Mesonet takes us beyond the headlines and hype to explain what El Niño is, what it isn’t, and how this recurring climate pattern can shape the weather we experience.

In part two of our interview with neurobiologist Dr. Lemon, we learn more about taste and flavor. And to spice things up, we talk about how the fiery sensation from eating peppers isn’t triggering taste buds but instead is caused by capsaicin changing how pain receptors in your mouth work.

In this episode we interview neurobiologist Dr. Chris Lemon to learn about how receptors and neurons in your mouth work together and interact with other sensory systems to detect taste and give the sensation of flavor. 

In Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Stein, we explore some of her research on how plasticity helps organisms survive in their environments, what it reveals about the importance of biological flexibility, and where this field needs to go next to answer remaining questions about this important trait.

At its core, phenotypic plasticity is one genotype, multiple outcomes. But what does that actually look like in real biology? In this episode, Dr. Laura Stein introduces phenotypic plasticity: what it is, how it works, and why it is important that organisms aren’t fixed in form or function.