The genome sequence of an organism includes the collective DNA sequences of each chromosome in the organism, whether it be a bacterium, a honey bee, or a chimpanzee. Unraveling and comparing genomes informs our understanding of evolution, biodiversity, conservation, and the very essence of life. From the basics of genome sequencing to horizontal gene transfer and jumping genes, this short course focused on what we have learned and why it matters.
Saturday, February 23, 2013 Agenda |
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8:15-9:00 |
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Registration |
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9:00-9:10 |
Welcome, logistics, and introduction by Lisa White |
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9:10-9:20 |
Setting the stage Dave Lindberg |
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9:20-10:10 |
What if we could sequence everything? |
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10:20-11:10 |
Reverse ecology: Population genomics, divergence and adaptation |
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11:20-12:10 |
Simple animals, complex genomes: How comparative genomics shows how similar we are to sponges, sea anemones, and multicellular pancakes |
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12:10-1:20 |
Break for lunch (on your own) |
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1:20-2:10 |
Secrets of the genome: Employing new sequencing technologies to learn about high altitude living and human adaptation |
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2:20-3:10 |
Genetic biodiversity, the tree of life, and conservation |
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3:10-3:30 |
Open questions |
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About the speakers Jeffrey Boore is the CEO of Genome Project Solutions and an Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley. He holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Michigan. He was previously Head of Evolutionary Genomics (and currently a guest researcher) at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) where he was instrumental in guiding the transition from a human genome sequencing to a comparative genomics facility and in establishing the Community Sequencing Program. Rob DeSalle is a Curator in the Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). He leads a group of researchers working on molecular systematics, molecular evolution, population and conservation genetics, and evolutionary genomics of a wide array of life forms ranging from viruses, bacteria, corals, and plants, to all kinds of insects, reptiles, and mammals. Rob holds Adjunct Professor positions at Columbia University and the City University of New York, and is a Distinguished Professor in Residence at New York University. Emilia Huerta-Sanchez is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley in the lab of Professor Rasmus Nielsen. She received her PhD in Applied Mathematics in 2008 from Cornell University. She spends most of her time analyzing human genomes to understand how evolutionary processes have shaped human genetic variation within the Center of Theoretical and Evolutionary Genomics in the Nielsen lab. Mansi Srivastava is a postdoctoral researcher at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT. In 2009 she received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley while completing research on the genomes and embryos of early animal lineages such as sea anemones and sponges to learn about early animal evolution. At MIT she is studying how regenerative mechanisms have evolved in animals. To this end, she is developing a species of acoel worms as a new model for molecular genetic studies of regeneration. John W. Taylor is a Professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley. Currently, he is President of the International Mycological Association and a founding co-Director of Berkeley’s Computational Genomics Resource Lab. He has received awards for excellence in teaching from the Mycological Society of America and the College of Natural Resources at Berkeley. Questions? Contact |