Genes Jump

Cross-examining the origins of our base pairsOne of our most foundational assumptions is that ‘Our DNA is our own.’ But what if our DNA is stolen? There's a puzzling phenomenon called 'horizontal gene transfer' in which one organisms' genetics jumps to another. Dr. Kaylee Byers is joined by invertebrate specialists Dr. Anna Klompen from the Stowers Institute, and Dr. Jessica Goodheart, a marine biologist hunting for nudibranchs, "gene pirates" of the sea. And Dr. Ted Turlings will tell us how his trip to China led to an exciting discovery about the whitefly -- another common but crafty genetic thief. A final word of advice. Next time a goopy organism bumps into you in a crowd, make sure to check your genes! A special thanks to the laboratory of Professor Youjun Zhang Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. Drs. Zhaojiang Guo, Jixing Xia, and Zezhong Yang.—Highlights:(00:00) Finding the Transforming Principle(11:34) A colorful and slick ocean pirate(17:50) The hunt for a fluttering and destructive gene thief—Learn-A-Long: https://bit.ly/49qSB4T—Resources:Frederick Griffith - British Bacteriologist | BritannicaGriffith’s Experiment - Progress in Molecular Biology and Transitional Science | Science Direct20 Cool Genomics Facts - 13&14: Antibiotic resistance | Genome BCAncient viral DNA may help humans fight infections | National Institute of HealthVenom system variation and the division of labor in the colonial hydrozoan Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus | Science DirectNematocyst sequestration evolution | The Goodheart labA chromosome-level genome for the nudibranch gastropod Berghia stephanieae helps parse clade-specific gene expression in novel and conserved phenotypes | bioRxivFirst Report of Horizontal Gene Transfer Between Plant and Animal | The ScientistPretty Sly for a Whitefly | The AtlanticFirst known gene transfer from plant to insect identified | NatureWhiteflies stole a gene from plants to survive their lethal toxins | Earth.com—Credit:Lady Margot Asquith on the outbreak of World War I Roman Styran