Grokking effective population size, with Robin Waples

Genes are recipes for proteins and proteins do stuff. But if a gene can make more than one protein, how does that affect genetic variation and the possible routes to adaptation? We get an introduction to the topic of adaptive alternative splicing from David Manahan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're in the age of big data, but there remain several hurdles to integrating genomics into conservation science. We hear about these issues from Prof Cock Van Oosterhout, and discuss the potential solutions he outlined in his recent perspectives article for Heredity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second of our special episodes on the 2024 PopGroup conference, we hear from Mark Kirkpatrick, who gave the plenary talk which was the climactic end to the meeting. Mark tells us why he loves Popgroup, what his conference talk was about and what questions he's excited to dig into next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PopGroup is the beloved annual meeting of the Population Genetics group of the Genetics Society. This episode we hear from Mike Richie, lead organiser at this year's host organisation - the University of St Andrews, from plenary speaker Susan Johnston and from student prizewinner Diana Lobo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Each year Heredity awards a prize for the best student paper in the journal, this episode Ellen Nikelski, talking about her paper and how it feels to have been the winner in 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the big decisions in planning a genetic study is what kind of sequencing approach to use. This episode we talk to Daria Martchenko and Aaron Shafer (Trent University, Canada), whose paper compares and contrasts whole genomes to RADseq in a study of mountain goat demography and adaptive history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We tend to focus on research studies on the podcast, but review papers are a hugely important part of the scientific literature. This week we talk to Frank Hailer, reviews editor, who demonstrates his passion for using genetics in his work and talks about why he loves his job at Heredity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barriers to gene-flow control population connectivity, but what barriers exist in the sea? How similar is the connectivity of island marine organisms to those on land? As with many evolutionary questions, the Galapagos is the perfect place to find answers. Max Hirschfeld and Christine Dudgeon discuss their new work with the Galapagos bullhead shark. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is effective population size (Ne), and why is it important? Robin Waples takes us back to the basics of this important evolutionary concept and discusses his new paper, using simulations to demonstrate that Bill Hill's 1972 equation for calculating Ne still works for populations with extreme reproductive patterns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kamolphat Atsawawaranunt and Anna Santure discuss how they have used diverse samples of DNA to trace the introduction history of the common myna from its native range across its invasive distribution in the Pacific. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.