Episodes
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
WSS S5E9: Classifying New Viruses Within Minutes!
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
What happens when you combine computer scientists, evolutionary biologists, and a global pandemic? A game-changing classification tool. A collaborative team, co-led by Dr. Kathleen Hill and have determined the genomic signature of Covid-19 utilizing a new machine learning program that will allow researchers to easily classify any newfound deadly virus.
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
WSS S4E1: Spreading Avian Malaria in the Tropics: The Middleman Mosquito
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
Malaria is a serious disease that threatens human life. This illness, however, is not unique to us and understanding how it effects and is transmitted among other species can be important for controlling it among our own populations. On this episode of Western Science Speaks, our guest, Leticia de Souza Soares from the Department of Biology, talks about how birds specifically pass Malaria to one another through a middleman; the infamous mosquito.
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
WSS S3E10: Staying one step ahead in the evolutionary arms race
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Predictive mathematical models are a useful tool for just about any type of research in science. Just how useful can they be in helping us to understand the nature of evolution? Dr. Lindi Wahl from the Department of Applied Mathematics at Western University develops models to help capture the evolution of microbes, specifically viruses and bacteria. Western Science Speaks host Henry Standage chats with Dr. Wahl about the mechanisms viruses have or develop in order to avoid extinction. Discover how a better understanding of microbial evolution allows humans to stay one step ahead in the evolutionary arms race.