Patterns
of Adaptive Evolution
NIH-R01
GM076040-01
PI
Co-PI
Years
funded
2006-2011
Total
budget
Direct
$957,500
Indirect
$412,305
Total
$1,369,805
Brief
Description
Evolution
by natural selection (adaptive evolution) is one of the major
generalizations
in biology. It also has important ramifications for medicine,
agriculture, and
biotechnology. Unfortunately, many outcomes of natural selection have
been to
our detriment. The most obvious ones are apparent in medicine - the
evolution
of drug-resistant bacteria and viruses, to the point that some
infections are
now untreatable. Yet, whatever problems arise from natural selection of
pests
and parasites, we need not remain as helpless victims to its effects:
understanding evolution offers potential solutions. Our ability to
predict
adaptive evolution is still in its infancy. Yet it is now apparent that
many
opportunities exist for improving that understanding, aided by
statistical
modeling of molecular data. This
proposal integrates theoretical and experimental methods to explore
properties
of adaptive evolution.
While
it might seem that the characteristics of beneficial mutations will
vary
idiosyncratically from system to system, recent work using statistical
theory
suggests that there may indeed be generalities that transcend the
biological
details of a system. Exploring the nature of these generalities is the
main
focus of this proposal. Both the theory
and experiments developed in this proposal may also suggest useful
approaches
to predict the trajectory of evolution in organisms of medical
importance. Such
information could be extremely useful at early stages of drug
development, as
well as in designing treatments that are more resilient to evolution in
the
target species.