Research area:

Population genetics has produced a rich body of theory about how populations evolve, and with the advent of molecular biology, it has become possible to put these theories to a test.  Andrea Betancourt focuses on examining patterns found in molecular data and asking if these are consistent with theoretical predictions. Her work has addressed questions such as: Does recombination allow more rapid adaptation?  Do X-linked loci show stronger responses to selection? What forces drive the evolution of transposable elements? She has used both natural populations of Drosophila species and laboratory phage populations in her work.

Research area:

Kristan Schneider studies theoretical models for anti-malarial drug resistance, the most severe threat to malaria control and eradication efforts. By combining population dynamical with population genetic approaches he develops models for genetic hitchhiking, which are directly applicable to molecular data (microsatellite or SNP data). By this approach it is possible to reconstruct the evolutionary dynamics of drug-resistance associated mutations, even in the absence of reliable clinical or epidemiological data. This is the key to understand the evolution of drug resistance and guarantee successful malaria control/eradication. For Kristan’s research data analysis is equally important as mathematical modeling.
Furthermore, Kristan studies models of frequency-dependent selection, a form of selection in which the fitnesses of individuals (probability to survive from birth to age of reproduction) depend on the population’s composition. This form of selection arises naturally in many ecological scenarios. Kristan is interested in general properties of frequency-dependent selection as well as in applications to theoretical ecology and speciation.

Research area:

Irene Tiemann-Boege's main interest is to study how recombination and mutation are shaping the evolution of the genome. Throughout her career she has developed highly sensitive technologies  to accurately characterize recombination and mutation processes, including a technology similar to next generation sequencing capable of analyzing in parallel millions of single molecules. With her expertise she contributed with experimental data to areas such as the paternal age-effect and recombination hotspots. Currently, she is working in the relationship between recombination and mutation and the role of  recombination hotspots in the evolution of certain gene classes.

Research area: Analysis of natural variation within and between species

Alistair McGregor has extensive research experience in the analysis of cis-regulatory enhancers, mapping morphological differences in Drosophila, and investigating the evolution of developmental regulation. With the overall aim of understanding morphological evolution, Alistair McGregor's research addresses a number of questions central to understanding this process: What are the molecular changes in developmental factors underlying morphological variation? What is the relationship between the evolution of intra-specific and inter-specific variation? The long-term goal of Alistair McGregor's research is to synthesize population genetics and evolutionary developmental biology to fully address questions of the molecular basis, population origin and dynamics, and potential adaptive significance of variation in morphology.