Genetics in Your World Podcast

The Genetics in Your World podcast spotlights noteworthy studies published in GSA Journals GENETICS and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. Through conversations with the authors, you’ll hear about their research and its significance for the fields of genetics and genomics. The podcast is produced by the GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or bookmark the Acast RSS Feed to stay up to date with future installments.

Season 2

 

In 2025, the Genetics In Your World podcast underwent a redesign—you’ll get the same great scientific content through a new and improved listener experience!

Ep. 2: Functions of Blm Helicase N-terminal IDR—A Conversation with Dr. Evan B. Dewey

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Allie Hutchings interviews Dr. Evan Dewey of Winthrop University about the functions of Blm helicase N-terminal IDR. Read Dr. Dewey’s paper titled, “Functions of the Bloom syndrome helicase N-terminal intrinsically disordered region,” published in the March 2025 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 1: Breeding Better Berries: Inbreeding and Hybrid Vigor in Strawberries — A Conversation with Dr. Steven J. Knapp

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Faye Romero interviews Dr. Steven J. Knapp of UC Davis about the genetics underlying increased hybrid performance in strawberry cultivars. Read Dr. Knapp’s paper titled, “A dominance hypothesis argument for historical genetic gains and the fixation of heterosis in octoploid strawberry,” published in the December 2024 issue of G3.

Season 1

 

Ep. 14: The Fourth Chromosome Resource Project—A Conversation with Dr. Stuart Newfeld

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee 2024 chair Hassan Bukhari has a conversation with Dr. Stuart Newfeld of Arizona State University about the Fourth Chromosome Resource Project. Read Dr. Newfeld’s paper titled, “Fourth Chromosome Resource Project: a comprehensive resource for genetic analysis in Drosophila that includes humanized stocks,” published in the February 2024 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 13: Perils of Being Human—A Conversation about Kinetochore Humanization with Dr. Guðjón Ólafsson

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Sarah Gilmour has a conversation with Dr. Guðjón Ólafsson of NYU Langone Health and University of Iceland about his attempts to “humanize” the yeast kinetochore and how the difficulties of doing so teach us about the evolution of essential kinetochore proteins. Read Dr. Ólafsson’s paper titled, “Humanization reveals pervasive incompatibility of yeast and human kinetochore components,” published in the January 2024 issue of G3.

Ep. 12: Building From the Ground Up: Pathogen ‘Omics in the Age of Advanced Molecular Methods—A Conversation with Dr. Scott Dawson

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Sarah Renee Phillips interviews Dr. Scott Dawson of UC Davis about the unique biology and challenges of studying the parasite Giardia lamblia. Read Dr. Dawson’s paper titled, “Harnessing the power of new genetic tools to illuminate Giardia biology and pathogenesis,” published in the June 2024 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 11: How C. elegans Protect its Genome with piRNAs—A Conversation with Dr. Jordan Brown

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Tammy Lee interviews Dr. Jordan Brown, recent alumnus from the University of Chicago, about factors involved in gene silencing mediated by small RNAs. Read Dr. Brown’s paper titled, “Sensitized piRNA reporter identifies multiple RNA processing factors involved in piRNA-mediated gene silencing,” published in the August 2023 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 10: Interrogating Fungal Pathogens and Inspired Leadership—A Discussion with Dr. Christina Cuomo

In this episode, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Sarah Renee Phillips interviews Dr. Christina Cuomo about the diversity and evolution of a deadly fungal pathogen from Southeast Asia and how she and her colleagues used a combination of population genomics and genome-wide association studies to identify evolutionary pattern and process as well as genes influencing patient experiences and health outcomes. Read Dr. Cuomo’s paper titled, “Impact of pathogen genetics on clinical phenotypes in a population of Talaromyces marneffei from Vietnam,” published in the August 2023 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 9: Unexpected Discoveries in Drosophila—A Conversation with Dr. Hunter Hill

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Hunter Hill of the University of Montana about unexpected recent discoveries made while completing his PhD with Dr. Kent Golic at the University of Utah, surrounding new and exciting data about the breakage pattern of chromosomes in Drosophila. Read Dr. Hill’s paper titled, “Dicentric chromosome breakage in Drosophila melanogaster is influenced by pericentric heterochromatin and occurs in nonconserved hotspots,” published in the June 2023 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 8: HIMs and ZIMs in C. elegans Meiosis—A Conversation with Dr. Ting Gong

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Ting Gong of UC Davis about the surprising results she found when disrupting the meiotic chromosome segregation in C. elegans. Read Dr. Gong’s paper titled, “Caenorhabditis elegans spermatocytes can segregate achiasmate homologous chromosomes apart at higher than random frequency during meiosis I,” published in the April 2023 issue of GENETICS.  

Ep. 7: “Science is Like a Detective Story!”—A Conversation with Dr. Francis Collins

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews former National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins about his pathway into science, how he deals with failures in research, and his advice for future scientists.

Ep. 6: Happy Accidents in the Lab—A Discussion with Dr. Thomas Merritt

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Thomas Merritt about happy accidents in the laboratory involving penicillin, saccharine, post-it notes, and x-ray machines. Read Dr. Merritt’s paper titled, “Regulation at Drosophila’s Malic Enzyme highlights the complexity of transvection and its sensitivity to genetic background,” published in the February 2023 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 5: A New Wormy Role Model for Genetics—A Discussion with Dr. Mengyi Cao

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Mengyi Cao about her team’s development of a new genetically tractable model system in the nematode Steinernema hermaphroditum. Read Dr. Cao’s paper titled, “The entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema hermaphroditum is a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite and a genetically tractable system for the study of parasitic and mutualistic symbiosis,” published in the January 2022 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 4: Building a MAP for Growth—A Discussion with Dr. Rose King

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Rose King about how she developed novel tools to better understand the unreported roles of MT-associated proteins within the nucleus of budding yeast. Read Dr. King’s paper titled, “Microtubule-associated proteins and motors required for ectopic microtubule array formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae,” published in the June 2021 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 3: CRISPRi in the Fission Yeast—A Discussion with Dr. Ken Ishikawa

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Ken Ishikawa about how he and colleagues adapted CRISPR interference for fission yeast, allowing controllable reversible and efficient transcriptional repression. Read Dr. Ishikawa’s paper titled, “Implementation of dCas9-mediated CRISPRi in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe,” published in the February 2021 issue of G3.

Ep. 2: Resistance is Futile—A Discussion with Dr. Richard Gomulkiewicz

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Richard Gomulkiewicz about the evolution of gene drive resistance. Read Dr. Gomulkiewicz’s paper titled, “Evading resistance to gene drives,” published in the February 21 issue of GENETICS.

Ep. 1: A Discussion with Dr. Katherine Maniates

In this episode, a GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member interviews Dr. Katherine Maniates about her paper titled, “Sperm fate is promoted by the mir-44 microRNA family in the Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite germline,” published in the January 2021 issue of GENETICS.