Episode 131: Secrets in the structure (with Scott Edwards)

How are new technologies allowing biologists to look beyond simple genetic variation to whole genome structure? What is a pangenome? In this episode, we talk with Scott Edwards, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Curator of Ornithology at Harvard University. On this episode, we talk to Scott about the new ways we can describe and understand large chunks of DNA that till recently we have not been able to characterize directly. We also talk with Scott about why engaging in natural history is important in genomics, and we discuss new tools that have allowed him to study avian “genetic structural variants” and pangenomes. With these tools, Scott’s lab has made some exciting discoveries about how large genetic changes have helped one bird species, the house finch, cope with a major disease outbreak. Cover art: Keating Shahmehri.