COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES IN COMPARATIVE GENOMICS: GENE FAMILY EVOLUTION, ANCESTRAL GENOME RECONSTRUCTION, AND APPLICATIONS TO HUMAN GENETICS

摘要

Comparative methods have long been a mainstay of biology, particularly evolutionary biology; they are also at the core of medical research based on animal models of human physiology. They find their most challenging and most fitting application, however, in the study of whole genomes, as they are the main tools through which we can make sense of the billions of base-pairs forming the sequence of animal and other genomes. Comparing whole genomes, which is necessarily done through computational methods due to the size of the genomes, has given rise to the research area known as comparative genomics. Comparative genomics is the tool of choice for identifying genes in both well studied and newly sequenced genomes; for studying the acquisition of virulence or drug resistance in pathogens; for tracking down gene complexes responsible for inheritable diseases or susceptibilities; and for engineering desirable new traits in crops; and for studying many forms of cancers. More generally, comparative genomics is the tool of choice to elucidate how the genetic blueprint translates into specific functions and how that blueprint evolves in populations and into various species.