How do parasites evolve with us -- Dr. Amanda K Gibson
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2020
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Amanda K. Gibson an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia. Dr. Gibson joins the show to dissect the relationship between parasitism and evolution.
In this episode you'll learn:
- About the complex multi-organism environments parasites live in
- About the Pros and Cons of asexual reproduction in parasites
- About the evolutionary change back and forth between parasites and mutualists
Dr. Gibson's lab focuses on the genetic change driven by parasitism on both the parasites and hosts. This evolutionary relationship is challenging to unravel given the complex biotic interactions a parasitic organism encounters. As an example, parasites in humans need to successfully compete with the both the thousands of human microbiome bacteria and viruses as well as the human immune system.
First, Dr. Gibson asked the question how do parasites reproduce, and then linked this idea to the evolution of parasites over time. If fit parasites or hosts were genetically well equipped to produce progeny why would they not reproduce asexually transferring that fitness to their progeny? Why would either engage in sexual reproduction which would change the genetic makeup of their offspring?
Explaining this paradox Dr. Gibson highlights the fact that greater genetic diversity in parasites yields a higher likelihood that some of the parasites are able to infect the hosts available, whereas for the host genetic diversity means a higher chance of being resistant to new versions of parasites. Parasites reproduction may be affected in the opposite way as well, with monoculture crops perhaps encouraging asexual reproduction among parasites.
Supporting this idea Dr. Gibson points out that more monoculture crop fields tend to be destroyed by parasites than fields with multiple genotypes. This effect could be seen with as little as two different genetic backgrounds. Finally, Dr. Gibson extends her research to humans explaining a tantalizing yet poorly studied theory that humans might be drawn to mate with people who have different major histocompatibility complexes than themselves in order to give their children a broader defense against potential parasites.
To hear about more examples of coevolution between parasites and hosts see Dr. Gibson's work at coevolving.org .
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Transcript
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| 0:28.8 | Here come the geniuses. |
| 0:30.4 | This is the Finding Genius Podcast. |
| 0:33.0 | That is Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Finding Genius Podcast. |
| 0:41.0 | I have Amanda Kay Gibson. |
| 0:42.0 | She's an assistant professor of biology at University of Virginia |
| 0:46.0 | and we have to talk about parasites and how they may drive evolutionary change. Sounds |
| 0:51.3 | really cool. So Amanda, thanks for coming. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, tell me about your research. What's the premise of it? So yeah, so broadly I think of myself as an evolutionary biologist who studies, |
| 1:04.7 | yeah, infectious diseases, interactions |
| 1:06.6 | between hosts and their parasites. |
| 1:09.4 | I think ultimately what has unified my work |
| 1:12.4 | for a long time is an interest in understanding, you know, why we see infections or disease in some places or not others or sometimes and not others or some |
| 1:24.0 | times and not others or some individuals and not others right why might we see so |
| 1:29.1 | much disease in one population and not another or why might one host get so sick and not another? That variation I think is what broadly |
| 1:38.7 | unites a lot of the work that we do. Yeah what amazes me is, you know, amongst parasites, the adaptation and the different lifestyles |
| 1:47.4 | and, you know, and definitive versus like intermediate hosts, how do they do that? |
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