Jessica Vamathevan

Research Assistant X Ph.D Student

Dept. of Biology
Darwin Building
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT

j.vamathevan@ucl.ac.uk

Supervisor: Professor Ziheng Yang, FRS

Research:
Human genes can be compared with their mammalian orthologues to find functional groups of genes that have been subjected to positive selection during evolution in order to explain the divergence in the anatomy and cognitive abilities in humans.

The evolutionary rate is likely to vary through time either at different sites or at specific points in the gene lineage. Statistical and computational methods developed in molecular evolution and phylogenetics can be used to estimate these evolutionary rates.

Genes that show strong signals for positive selection tend to be involved in sensory perception, reproduction, immune defence, tumour suppression and apoptosis. Selective pressures that indicate functional shifts are also important in the pharmaceutical industry for establishing species differences that affect drug-discovery assays and the choice of animal models.

Last modified 18 July, 2006