Directionality in Genomics and Macroevolution

Coordinator: Laura Nuño de la Rosa, Complutense University of Madrid

Read photo description and credits
Colorful data visualization arranging rectangular particles in rays of concentric arcs against a black background. Illustration by tartila, Adobe Stock
MCPS_avatar_dot-red

Detecting biases in biological patterns and processes is central to life science inquiry, but since unambiguous signatures of directionality are often elusive, it is also a source of methodological frustration. Increasingly sophisticated experimental and theoretical tools have been marshaled in the areas of genomics, phylogenetics, and evolutionary paleobiology, but new statistical models and model systems are needed to isolate signals from noise in large data sets. Concerted effort by multidisciplinary teams working on the details of mutational processes, genomic signatures, and macroevolutionary trends help to orient future research with robust procedures that identify directionality in lineages, both past and present, thereby advancing our understanding of evolutionary dynamics within and across populations and lineages.

News

January 08, 2024
The genes that made us truly human may also make us ill
March 28, 2023
Our “Junk DNA” Is More Important Than We Once Thought
July 11, 2022
Applying a new mathematical modeling framework to existing fossil data