Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics Research Emphasis Area

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All biological variation has been shaped by evolutionary forces including mutation, selection, and drift. Their study provides leverage to decipher gene function in health and disease and to predict their future states in evolving populations. The EGG emphasis area focuses on these fundamental forces and the resulting phenotypic variation within a wide range of species. Member labs’ interests range from populations to species and employ genetic models, non-model organisms, genomics, and computation. Specific study areas include population genetics, host-pathogen conflicts, molecular co-evolution, speciation, mutation, trait development and evolution, genomics, genome organization, gene regulation, and directed evolution.

Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics Interest Group
Research Retreat

Research in Progress presentations by researchers from any level from participating labs.

Day-long series of talks and posters including an external guest speaker. Initiated pre-pandemic

T32 Opportunities

Genetics Training Grant

The Training Program in Genetics has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than forty years. The program has contributed to landmark discoveries in genetics, including discovery of restriction fragment length polymorphisms, development of a genetic linkage map in humans, and methods for targeted gene disruption in vertebrates.

Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics focused Core Facilities

University of Utah researchers have access to numerous state of the art core facilities, resources and support through the Health Sciences Center, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the University. Cores and resources that are highly utilized by Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics Research Emphasis Area members are:

Core Facilities Website

Students

“The evolutionary genetics and genomics community at the U is a fantastic thing to be a part of. There is such a wide range of research being conducted using many different tools. I do solely computational research using mostly publicly available data, but there are also lab members testing evolutionary processes functionally in model systems. I love being able to ask such a wide variety of questions that would be really hard to answer in a traditional genetics experiment set-up.”

Jordan Little, Nathan Clark's Lab

"I think the evolutionary genetics and genomics research area within the human genetics department at the UofU is a supportive and growing community. There is a lot of exciting and interdisciplinary research happening that, as a trainee, is amazing to be a part of because of the educational and experiential opportunities. Although my lab works in evolutionary and population genomics where I have learned several skills in computational research, I have also been able to learn some general principles and approaches of animal models and other wet lab techniques through interest group research presentations and journal clubs. I feel that through my time in the lab and department, I have gained a lot of the skills needed for having a successful career, whatever that may be."

Paige Eberle, Ellen Leffler's Lab

The University of Utah General Catalog

This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to fundamental concepts and experimental approaches in the analysis and interpretation of experimental genomics data. It will be structured as a series of lectures covering key concepts and analytical strategies. A diverse range of biological question enabled by modern DNA sequencing technologies will be explored including sequence alignment, the identification of genetic variation, structural variation, and ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analysis. Students will learn and apply the fundamental data formats and analysis strategies that underlie computational genomics research. The primary goal of the course is for students to be grounded in theory and have the ability to conduct independent genomic analyses.

This course will explore the molecular, developmental, and genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary change, with an emphasis on current research in animal biology. Topics include regulatory networks and signaling pathways, modularity, developmental constraints, origin of animals, molecular/developmental origin of diverse body plans and appendages, and genetics of speciation. The class will consist of both lectures and discussions of current literature. Suitable for graduate students at all levels.

This course will cover the fundamentals of population and evolutionary genetics with an emphasis on molecular and sequence-level approaches, including practical exercises in computational analysis aimed at students at all levels of experience. Lectures will cover both theory and experimental studies of the forces that shape genetic variation within and between species.

Theories and methods of molecular population genetics, with emphasis on human examples. How DNA sequence variation is analyzed to infer population history and to identify genes recently subject to selection. Laboratory exercises develop elementary programming skills and show how computation is used to connect models and data.

Bioscience Faculty

Brenda Bass

Double-Stranded RNA (dsRNA), RNA Editing, RNA Interference, DICER

Justin Bosch

Cell Signaling, Genetics, Development, Inter-organ Communication, Drosophila, CRISPR, Plasma Proteomics

Mario Capecchi

Mammalian Development, Human Pathology from Cancer to Neuropschiatric Disorders, Neuroscience

Allison Carey

Mycobacteria, Tuberculosis, Microbial Genomics, Antibiotic Resistance, Virulence

Clement Chow

Genetic Variation, ER Stress, Disease Modifiers

Richard M. Clark

Genetics, Gene Expression, Plant-Herbivore Interactions, Diapause, Carotenoids

Colin Dale

Microbiology and Molecular Evolution, Insects and Endosymbionts

Nels C. Elde

Evolutionary Cell Biology, Virology, Microbiology, Genetics, Genome Science, Experimental Evolution

Justin English

Directed Evolution, Protein Engineering, Molecular Tool Development, Synthetic Biology, Pharmacogenomics, G-protein Coupled Receptors, Cell Signaling, Neuroscience

James Gagnon

Developmental Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Stem Cells

L. Eric Huang

Brain Tumor, Cancer Metabolism, Epigenetic and Genetic Alterations, Hypoxia, Tumor Progression

Jarrod Johnson

HIV Molecular Virology, Virus-host Interactions, Virus Sensing, Innate Anti-viral Defenses, Gene Regulation, Dendritic Cells, Macrophages, CRISPR

Lynn Jorde

Human Population Genetics, Disease-gene Identification

Mick Jurynec

Osteoarthritis, Genetics, Animal Models, Genomics, Drug Discovery

Talia Karasov

Host-Pathogen Evolution, Microbial Genetics, Plant Immunity, Population Genetics

Gabrielle Kardon

Musculoskeletal Development, Regeneration

Kristen Kwan

Zebrafish, Eye Development and Morphogenesis

Ellen Leffler

Genomics, Evolution, Population Genetics, Non-Human Primates, Malaria

Nitin Phadnis

Speciation, Genetic Conflict Segregation Distortion, Chromosome Mechanics

Aaron Quinlan

Genomics, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Human Genetics, Cancer Genomics, Rare Disease Genetics, Ovarian Cancer

Michael D. Shapiro

Evolutionary Genetics, Genomics, Developmental Biology

Tyler Starr

Protein evolution in viruses and immunity, SARS-CoV-2, HIV, Zoonosis, Molecular Evolution

AC Tan

Translational Bioinformatics, Cancer Systems Biology, Cancer Data Science, Computational Immuno-Oncology, Precision Oncology

Sean Tavtigian

Genetic Cancer Susceptibility

Michael Werner

Developmental (Phenotypic) Plasticity, Chromatin, Epigenetics, Gene Regulation

Chan Yul Yoo

Plant Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Photoreceptor-containing Nuclear Bodies (Photobodies), Organelle Communication, Genetics

Heejin Yoo

Plant Immunity, Plant Metabolism, Translational Regulation, Programmed Cell Death, Effector Triggered Immunity, Systemic Acquired Resistance, Salicylic Acid, Plant Volatiles

Events

T32 Opportunities

Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics focused Core Facilities

Students

Courses

Faculty

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