Biopedia

Point mutations can have a huge impact on the genome depending on where in the genetic code they occur. To illustrate this, we're going to be looking at a case study in the form of almonds- formerly …

Bacteria are far simpler in molecular terms than eukaryotes. However, they still need to be able to sense and respond to their environment. How do they do this? Enter the two-component system; a two-…

No, the episode name isn't a typo. Rather, it's the name of a subspecies of zebra we're going to be discussing today. Along the way, we will explore  clines, the purpose of zebra stripes and an attem…

Biological warfare has been around for centuries. However, it itself isn't the topic of today's episode. Rather, today we're going to talk about experiments conducted with anthrax on Gruinard Island …

Today is more of a follow-up episode building on episode 39. Specifically, we're going to examine two different schools of thought about plant succession, known as the Gleasonian and Clementsian mode…

Our discussion this week is going to head back into ecology and focus on succession- a change in the species composition of a community across space or time.

Sources for this episode:

• Cain, M. L.,…

Haemophilia is a genetic condition which is characterised by one of the blood clotting factors, usually encoded for on the X chromosome, not being encoded for properly for various reasons- whether it…

We're all familiar with populations, but what about a metapopulation? Put simply, these are populations of populations. Thanks to our sources and also my interpretation of the subject from back when …

Back in the early 20th century, an English mathematician and a German scientist both independently came up with an equation to portray the frequency of different phenotypes in a hypothetical populati…

Today, we're going to discuss classification. We're going to briefly skim over how people historically used to organise life, before the establishment of the prokaryote-eukaryote division which would…

On the show today, we discuss the tuatara- two (or possibly only one) species of reptile which are the final representatives of an ancient lineage. I didn't really go into it in the main episode, but…

At A Level, we are taught that dominant: recessive traits are in a 3:1 ratio for any trait in which only one gene encodes for it. However, it's not always that simple. Enter lethal alleles...

Source…

Usually, we get two copies of each chromosome. However, the finely tuned process of meiosis and fertilisation can go awry such that a new zygote ends up with three copies. Depending on the chromosome…

We often think about animals as an insular group. However, as with any genetic grouping, animals do have close relatives. On the show today, we discuss choanoflagellates- considered the closest relat…

Biodiversity is often mentioned as one concept in popular culture. However, it can be split into different components depending on who you ask. Today, we're going to explore two different ways of cho…

This week, we're going to discuss sympatric speciation- the counterpart to allopatric speciation where no physical barrier is needed.

Sources for this episode:

• Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, …

Bonus episode! Today, I'm going to focus on a less well-known story from the Darwin family. Specifically, let's look at William Erasmus Darwin, the eldest child of the family. In 1877, Darwin publish…

The Great Wall of China is one of the most imposing monuments humanity has ever created- after all, it's not for nothing that the claim goes around that you can see it from space. However, it's not j…

We're always taught that twins can either be identical or non-identical. But what is the basis for this? And is there ever a situation where twin type is not quite so binary?

Sources for this episod…

The term 'Anthropocene' (roughly translated as 'Age of Man') is a term that is sometimes thrown about on the radio or in science. But what is it exactly? As we'll see today, the concept itself is rel…