Research report 2015 - Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen

Is evolution predictable?

Authors
Neher, Richard
Departments
Max-Planck-Forschungsgruppe Evolutionary Dynamics and Biophysics
Summary
We are surrounded by microorganisms that adapt in their struggle to persist. In contrast to animals or plants, such adaptations don't take thousands of years but sometimes happen within weeks. To understand such rapid evolution, we need new theoretical frameworks and direct observations of the evolutionary dynamics. The research group develops such theory and uses it to analyze sequence data from influenza and human immunodeficiency virus populations. The results provide insight into the properties of the evolutionary process and allow predicting the composition of future virus populations.

For the full text, see the German version.

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