I'm looking forward to this lecture; the timing is perfect. If only we could convince that idiot Buttars to attend...<sigh> --- James DeGooyer <jdegooyer@biology.utah.edu> wrote:
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:15:15 -0700 To: office@science.utah.edu From: James DeGooyer <jdegooyer@biology.utah.edu> Subject: Frontiers of Science Jan. 25 CC: mortensen@science.utah.edu
Dear Frontiers of Science patron:
You are cordially invited to attend the first FOS lecture of the year on Weds, Jan. 25, 7:30 PM, in the Aline Skaggs Biology auditorium! See the U. of U. press release below. Campus map = http://www.map.utah.edu/index.jsp?find=82 Note: Whiting will give a live radio interview Tues, Jan. 24 on KCPW 88.3 and 105.3 FM, at 10:40 a.m. Tune-in!
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MEDIA ADVISORY
FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE LECTURE Harvesting the Tree of Life: Reaping What We Sow
Lecturer: Michael F. Whiting, associate professor of integrative biology, Brigham Young University Date: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 Time: 7:30 p.m. Place: Aline Wilmot Skaggs Biology Building Auditorium, University of Utah
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Charles Darwin recognized that all biological species are connected in a great Tree of Life that represents the evolution - or pattern of ancestry and descent - among all species. However, reconstructing this Tree of Life has remained a complicated and elusive endeavor, and only recently have the tools and technology been developed to place all the branches of the tree together into a single blueprint of life.
Large collaborative efforts are now underway throughout the world to reconstruct this tree, and for the first time we are beginning to piece all of biodiversity together into a whole. This talk will focus on the steps required to assemble the Tree of Life for the insect family, from trekking through the rainforests of the world, to using innovations in gene sequencing technology and supercomputing.
"Even in the early stages of reconstructing this tree, it is becoming clear that this tree will help us refine our understanding of the evolutionary process," says Whiting.
Whiting provides two examples of how the Tree of Life project benefits society and the environment:
-- It serves as an early warning system for tracking and controlling disease. When a new pathogen emerges, it is critical to figure out what it evolved from, because that will reveal how best to contain and combat the pathogen. The Tree of Life provides a map of all organisms and their evolutionary relationships to each other, so it allows researchers to determine the new pathogen's closest relative. When the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic was placed in the Tree of Life, it became clear that it was derived from a virus that lives in birds, which is why everyone is concerned about the recent emergence of a new avian flu.
-- It plays a critical role in preserving the threatened species on the planet. One of the rationales behind trying to conserve species is that we do not want to lose genetic diversity. If it is not possible to save all of the species on the planet, then we need to prioritize which species should be saved. The Tree of Life allows us to look at two threatened species, compare them to their closest neighbors that are not threatened, and decide which one provides the most genetic diversity if it is protected.
Michael F. Whiting is an associate professor of integrative biology, associate curator of insects at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, and director of the DNA Sequencing Center at Brigham Young University. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1995 and was a Sloan Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York before joining the BYU faculty in 1997.
His research focuses on using DNA sequencing to unravel the evolutionary history of the major groups of insects, and correlating this history with major biological or morphological shifts.
His work is known internationally for:
-- Innovations in insect phylogeny, which is the study of evolutionary relationships among insect groups.
-- Innovations in mitochondrial genomics, the study of genetic information within mitochondria, the "power plants" that help convert food into energy inside cells.
-- Methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, which is the theory and practice of deciphering evolutionary relationships among organisms.
-- Computational biology, involving using computers to sort through all possible evolutionary relationships to select the optimal evolutionary pattern.
In 2003, Whiting and colleagues demonstrated that a certain group of insects lost the ability to fly and then re-evolved it 50 million years later - the first time any organism was shown to do what scientists previously thought almost impossible: re-evolve a complex trait.
Whiting has been honored as the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Ernst Mayr Research Award for Evolutionary Biology, the Brigham Young University Young Investigator Award, and the Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award. He has more than 80 publications, including high profile work published in prestigious journals such as Nature and Systematic Biology.
[You have received this email invitation because you are listed on the College of Science/Frontiers of Science email registry. You may or may not receive a letter invitation through U.S. mail. If you wish to unsubscribe to this service, simply 'Reply' with subject line 'Unsubscribe.'] -- James R. DeGooyer Public Relations Specialist College of Science 1430 E. Presidents Cir. Rm. 220 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 Ph. (801) 581-3124 Fax (801) 585-3169
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